


a song for the sea

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Atlantis, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mentions of Slavery, Nereids (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), No Beta We Die Like Clones, Sirens, first fic pls be nice, fix it fic but with MERMAIDS, oc got dropped into the clone wars, shes not happy abt it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:32:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25932157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The Water Wars were over, Atalan's Trident had finally been destroyed, and Naliah and her sisters can take a well deserved break. Or so she thought. After discovering that the Trident had not been destroyed, Naliah follows a lead on the Trident that takes her to a galaxy far, far, away and to the one person that possesses the power to end its vicious cycle.Or: One very chaotic Nereid lands in the middle of the Clone War, gets attached, and attempts to save the galaxy while in the process of trying to save her own world.
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano & Original Female Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. Crash Landing

**Author's Note:**

> hiiiiii! so this was a 4am idea born out of my hyperfixation of the clone wars, freeform's siren, and my maladaptive daydreaming lmao. first fic ever but this kept eating at me so i decided to post this first chapter and go from there. im using this more as a way to process all the thoughts in my head more than anything but if you like what my mentally ill brain has come up with as a coping mechanism then thanks & and welcome to the wonderful, chaotic world of a song for the sea! i hope you like your stay!

_ Arcadie is gonna kill me. _

As she tumbled through a water vortex that led to Oya knows where, Naliah took the time to ponder her life choices. To be completely honest they hadn’t been remotely smart choices but at least she’s self aware. If she does survive this endeavor, she’ll have to face twelve apocalyptically angry Nereidian sisters that specifically told her not to follow this lead on her own. 

She rather face whatever is lying at the end of this damn portal. 

Despite the darkness, Naliah can tell she’s being dragged down. Her ribcage finally collapses under the water’s pressure and she sighs in relief. She thinks to herself that she should be fighting the current harder but she’s injured from the fight that occurred before she got thrown into the portal and it seems to be drawing strength from her own power. Even if she did manage to break free she’ll just end up right back into the middle of the fight she just escaped. 

Her last conscious thought is that she hopes she’ll still have enough energy to shift when she gets to where ever she’s going. 

It was dawn on Ando and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was attempting to meditate. The island hopping campaign on the water planet had proven to be more difficult than expected as the Separatists had unveiled a new series of aqua-droids capable of terrain adaptive cloaking. The droids were also completely invisible to republic scanners, meaning that it was impossible for the clones to figure out where the droids were until they were right on top of them. The Jedi could get a rough idea of where the droids were and how many there were, but it wasn’t foolproof. 

Thus, Obi-Wan had stolen a few moments in order to attempt to balance himself but even that was not an easy task. The force had been unstable for the past few weeks for reasons none of the council could fathom. As Obi-Wan sank deeper into the force, it suddenly coiled around him and released in what could only be described as a massive explosion. The lights in his quarters flicked violently, and the floor began to shake. Startled, Obi-Wan lept up from his position on the floor, looking around wildly. Another bang followed the first, but this one came from the door of his quarters where his dishelven padawan and grand-padawan stood. Anakin began to speak but Ahsoka beat him to it. 

“Master Kenobi, you felt that too right? It wasn’t just us?” 

“No, I definitely felt that. The force does not feel as turbulent anymore.” Obi-Wan paused for a moment. “Ahsoka go alert the men and tell them that we aren’t under attack by the Separatists. Whatever caused this was no droid.” 

Ahsoka nodded and rushed off towards the command center. 

“Anyways, before my padawan cut me off, I was going to say we should check the north shoreline. I can sense something there.” Anakin closed his eyes and tilted his head, trying to focus. “It has something to do with whatever has been causing the force to be unstable, but I don't know what it is.” He ended with a frustrated growl. 

Obi-Wan nodded. “I can sense something as well, we’ll take a squad and investigate. Gather the men, I’ll go to command and hail the council before before we leave.” 

As Anakin turned away , Obi-Wan sighed. So much for trying to have a peaceful morning. 

Naliah wasn’t dead, that she could tell for sure. She was definitely drained though, and not in her home waters. She lifted her head to sniff the air and was assaulted with scents that were completely foreign. Groaning, the Nereid turned onto her stomach to look towards the shoreline. A forest lied at the end of the beach, boasting flora she had never seen before. Glancing upwards she saw that the sky was a dusty purple instead of baby blue. Clicking frantically, she attempted to find her bearings but was dismayed to find that the animals that her clicks reverberated off of were different as well. 

Was she even on Terra anymore? 

_ Ok Naliah, stay calm this is hardly the worst situation you’ve been in.  _

She cocked her head as her clicks told her that a group of twelve land-walkers were heading through the dense undergrowth, heading straight towards her. Or she hoped they were all land-walkers. Nine were dressed oddly in some sort of armor and one had horns and tentacles. So yeah, definitely not on Terra anymore. There were two normally dressed adult male land-walkers leading the group, and they appeared to be at least two miles out. Cursing her echolocation for never letting her have a break, she slithered towards a rocky cover knowing damn well she was too injured to shift. Exhausted, she collapsed and closed her eyes hoping not to pass out. Unfortunately for her, she never gets what she wants. 

The mixed squadron of 501st and 212th were on high alert as they approached the shoreline. From what Obi-Wan could gather, even the clones had somewhat felt the explosion in the force that rocked the base. Ahead of him, Anakin made a gesture signaling the group to stop. 

“Rex, hand me the bi-nocs.” Anakin scanned the shoreline for a few seconds before his gaze landed on a particular spot. “Master, you might wanna take a look at this.” 

Obi-wan stepped forward and took the bi-nocs from Anakin, looking in the same spot. His breath hitched as he took in the sight. Near the rocky outcropping that jutted out from the water, what appeared to be a humanoid woman was lying on the sand. Its skin was tan with a greyish sheen to it, and had long coily hair that fell to just above where its hips should've been. Instead, a long singular tail about ten feet long was in the place where legs would normally be. Even from here, he could tell that the creature was powerfully built, despite its unconscious state. 

Anakin shifted beside him. “Do you have any idea what that is?” 

Obi-wan glanced back before fixing his gaze on Anakin and their men. “It appears to be a Melodie, but Melodie are only found on Yavin 4. It is highly unlikely that a Melodie would even be able to survive the journey offworld. We’ll move in to get a closer look, be aware of your surroundings, we have no idea what its capable of.”

For the second time that day, Naliah woke up. Except this time she wasn’t alone. There was a hand poking along her dorsal spikes, and she didn’t appreciate being woken up like that. Snarling loudly, Naliah whipped her tail forwards, wrapping the end of it around the fool who decided it was a smart idea to touch her. She glanced upwards and saw that the land-walkers had drawn their weapons. She may be weakened but she was still stronger than a group of land-walkers. Naliah felt for the water inside their bodies and pushed, sending the group flying. She turned to face the stunned group, stomach pressed to the ground waiting for their next attack. An auburn haired land-walker recovered first and stretched out a hand. 

“You will let Fives go!” 

Naliah felt something attempt to bend her mind but she fought it off easily. She felt her fury grow. She was more offended than disoriented by the attempt. 

_ The land-walker thought he could influence me!  _

She felt the land-walker in her grasp, apparently named Fives, struggle to get out. She considered killing him just because the auburn haired walker seemed attached to him but she needed to know where she was. Growling lowly, she threw Fives back to the group, knocking down two others as she did. She stifled a laugh. Idiot land-walkers. 

The auburn haired walker moved forwards along with a slightly taller blonde and a creature that must of been the thing with horns she sensed earlier. The three were holding light beams that whispered promises of danger. Deciding to not slaughter the group for now, she got out of an attack position and sat up on her haunches. She projected a thought loudly to the entire group. 

_ Where am I?  _


	2. Alliances

  
  


_ “Where am I?” _

  
  
The land-walkers' shock washed over Naliah as she spoke into their minds. Land-walkers were funny like that. She smiled despite the situation. Had she really shocked all of them into silence or did they not speak English? This was going to be a lot harder if they could only communicate through emotions, she was still injured and couldn’t keep this up forever. 

_ “Do you understand me? Where am I?” _

  
  


A walker with blue markings and twin pistols seemed to snap back into when she spoke a second time. He looked towards the two other land-walkers and the horned creature.  “Sirs, I think I’m speaking on behalf of all clones here. You’re on your own on this one.” 

The blonde walker glared at the one who spoke while the auburn haired walker cleared his throat and began to speak.  “My apologies, we do understand you. I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Kenobi motioned to his right, “This is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano. You are on the planet Ando, and currently this island is being used as a Republic base. Might I ask who you are and where you are from?” 

  
  


Naliah let out a sound that was meant to be a laugh but in her Nereid form it sounded more like a breathy screech. The “clones” and Skywalker all flinched and made towards their weapons but Nailah spoke before they could draw.  _ “Sorry! I forget land-walkers don’t laugh like that. I’m Nailah, I’m… not from around here. Ever heard of Earth or Terra?” _

“No, I’m afraid I haven’t.” Kenobi said slowly. He locked eyes with Skywalker and Tano for a few moments before looking back at her. “Land-walkers?” He asked with a confused tone. 

_ “It’s what we call humanoids.” _

“Your kind being…?” 

_ “Nereids. We’re an…”  _

Naliah pitched forwards, her eyesight going blurry. Right, that would be the blood loss from the stab wounds. She’s really over today. Kenobi manages to catch her before she hits the ground. 

“You’re injured.” He turned back to the group. “Someone get a med-pack!” 

Thinking she was out of earshot, the clone that caused her rude awakening earlier spoke to the clone next to him.  “General Kenobi can touch her and he doesn’t get choked out. How does she already have favorites? We’ve known each other for a grand total of five standard minutes.” 

Naliah lashed her tail in the direction of Fives and flexed her claws. If the human wanted to talk shit he could get hit. 

  
  


_ “I woke up in strange territory with armed humans poking around my body. How would you react? The only reason you aren’t dead is because in the grand scheme of things, I’m not having a completely terrible day. But if you wanna change that, I’ll be happy to take my anger out on you.”  _

  
  
  


The twin pistol carrying human quickly stepped between her and Fives and began to talk to him in a hushed voice, clearly rebuking him while Kenobi’s grip tightened on her. Skywalker rounded on them, power coiling around him. 

“If you want to make it off the beach alive, you won’t harm my men again.” 

Naliah took the time to study Skywalker for the first time. He was definitely the strongest in whatever power Kenobi and Tano had. She suspected that he was possibly even stronger than Kaimara, and much stronger than Naliah in this state. She spoke directly into his mind, isolating their conversation from the others. 

_ “You’re different from the rest.” _

  
  


Before he could reply, Tano came back with a syringe filled with a strange smelling liquid and knelt down to administer it. 

_ “What is that?” _

Tano glances down at her before looking back at the syringe, clearly bewildered by her confusion. “It's a hypo shot, it’ll help keep you stable until we can move you to our med facility.” At her words, Skywalker and Kenobi gave Tano a familiar look that Nailah had often been on the receiving end of when she said something her sisters didn't quite agree with. “What? We can’t leave her here, she's hurt and isn't she the reason the Force was turbulent to begin with? We need her to find out why.” She turned back to Naliah. “You’ve never had a hypo before?”

She’s had injections before but this one doesn’t smell like anything she’s ever had. On top of that, she’s had her fair share of needle related traumas and didn’t want to add another one to the list. However, she’s bleeding out and the humans haven’t shown any signs of harming her unprovoked. She’ll take her chances. Plus she has to figure out what this “force” is. 

_ “No I haven’t. If it can keep me from passing out a third time, I’m ok with it.”  _

  
  
  


They ended up using an aquatic transport to get her to their base. The facility had been set up in an abandoned fishing port with direct access to the sea. It wasn’t extremely large but Naliah was no stranger to wartime operations and could tell that it was well built for something that must have been converted into a base of operations so quickly. She had also figured out that the “clones” were actual genetic copies of each other and not just some funny human nickname they had. Naliah hadn’t seen any of them without their helmets off but they all smelled and sounded too alike for them not to be. 

The clones from the beach helped her onto a stretcher ( _ that hovered holy gods these humans were way cooler than Terran humans _ ) while Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano went ahead. She was aware that she must have been quite a sight for the humans inside the base. There were wet strips of fabric draped along her body to keep her from drying out and shifting, and there were several shallow stab wounds that ran from the bottom of her dorsal spines to about three feet above her tail fluke. Despite having humanoid features in her face, she still looked alien enough to cause unease in anyone that passed by. Her eyes were near black in color, and her teeth were sharpened into points, with her canines on her upper and lower jaws being slightly longer than the rest. She lacked eyebrows and there were distinct gill slits in the side of her neck that remained closed due to her being on land. From head to tail, she was about 13 feet long with pectoral fins that were located a foot down from where her hips would be and a barbed stinger that lied between her tail fluke. Her hands were webbed and each finger boasted a two inch claw on the end of it. She looked every inch the predator she was. 

They entered what Nailah guessed was the medical facility, and transferred her onto a table. A clone sporting a red symbol on his shoulder plate walked forwards, holding a spray bottle in his hand. After explaining that the spray was a healing agent called bacta, he treated the wounds on her body and left while Tano, noticeably vibrating with curiosity, began to ask a barrage of questions. 

“So where is Terra? Why are you using the Force to speak with us, can’t you just talk normally? How did you end up here? Who attacked you? Are you-” 

“Snips, really?!” 

“Sorry Master.” 

Naliah grinned, throwing off waves of amusement and reassurance. Her questioning reminded Nailiah of Jaiyanna when they were young. A pang of homesickness hit her. She really missed her sisters. They had no idea whether or not she was still alive. Shaking off the negative thoughts, she focused back on Tano’s questions. 

_ “No she’s fine, most land-walkers are confused when they meet a sea-born for the first time. I don’t mind answering your questions as long as you can answer a few of mine in return.”  _

Kenobi nodded. “It’s no problem at all, please go ahead.” 

_ “To start off I have no idea where Terra is on a galactic scale. None of the species on Terra have achieved space travel past our own moon. In this form, my vocal chords aren’t suited to replicate human speech so I have to talk to you telepathically. I would shift into my human form to make things easier but I’m power drained at the moment. The portal that brought me here seemed to feed off my own energy.”  _

Skywalker gave her an incredulous look. “Portal?” 

_ “Yes. It's a water vortex that draws strength from a Nereid's power to transfer them vast distances. They’re meant to be used in large groups but I was led into a trap. Guess that’s what I get for not listening to my sisters.” _

Tano spoke up. “So the people that led you to the portal were the ones who attacked you?” 

_ “Members of a radical Atlantean colony, the other aquatic species on my planet. Our two species have been at war for millennia but my sisters and I finally managed to negotiate a peace between us. Unfortunately, not all were happy with this decision. I was following a lead on the weapon that was responsible for much of the war and it led me to the portal. My guess is that a lone pack of Nereids found the weapon and decided to dispose of it that way. The Atlanteans found out and used me as a way to activate the portal since I have enough power to activate it on my own. What they didn’t know is that the portals aren’t set to a fixed destination, and the weapon was never on this planet. We all got thrown into random destinations because I didn’t know what was going on until it was too late.”  _

“You were not the only one to pass through?” 

_ “I wouldn’t be this drained if I was the only one to go through. They made it but they aren’t on this planet. There were 7 of them.”  _

Skywalker sighed and put his hand to his head, muttering something in a language she didn’t know. Tano’s eyes widened and Naliah heard Kenobi’s heart rate and blood pressure shoot up. Oops. 

_ “Before you ask, I have no idea where or when they could be. Portals are… I guess the closest human word for it would be complicated. If you aren’t careful they can fling you across space but also across time to some degree. You guys have a power too I can sense it, have you been feeling any changes in the last few weeks?”  _

Tano nodded hesitantly before steering the conversation back to what she thought was a safer topic.

“If this weapon is such a source of conflict, why not destroy it?” 

_ “We can’t. No one has been strong enough to destroy that thing in generations. Atalan’s Trident is a weapon that defies the natural order. The Trident grants the user total dominion and omnipotence over the oceans, its storms, and all its creatures as well as immortality through the spirit of Atalan. When it fully bonds with a host, it can completely destroy planets within a day.” _

Tano was making a face that screamed  _ “I regret ever opening my mouth and most of my life choices”. _ Poor thing, Naliah has been there. 

_ “Yeah… It’s a lot. Look, I’ll only need a few days to get back up to full strength and I can be on my way. I’m not looking to make enemies out of you, I just want to get the Trident before it lands in Atlantean hands and they destroy my people with it.”  _

Skywalker gave a harsh laugh before speaking. “That’s gonna be an issue. We’re in the middle of a planetary-wide invasion. Even if we could devote resources to get you off-world, I doubt you would make it out of atmo.” 

_ “Invasion?”  _

Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano gave each other several looks before Kenobi spoke. 

“That may take some time to explain.” 

  
  
  
  


Kenobi and Tano went off to deliver Naliah's news to the Jedi Council while Skywalker moved her into the marina where their aquatic equipment was being kept. Skywalker sat down on the dock as Naliah propped her elbows onto it, half submerged in the water. 

_ “So… the Separatists think the Republic is corrupt and they left but they killed a bunch of innocents doing so and they’re taking over worlds to establish more power using an evil droid army? And they’re being led by Count Dooku who is the dark version of a Jedi, which is what you guys are?”  _

“Dooku’s a Sith, yes.” 

_ “Awesome. I traded one war for another.”  _ Naliah remarked flatly. 

Skywalker leaned back on his arms and tilted his head to the side slightly, looking past Naliah. “Well it could’ve been worse.” He slid his eyes back down to her and raised an eyebrow, “You could’ve landed in Separatist space.” 

_ “I guess so.”  _ She hesitated a moment before speaking,  _ “...Dr-oids?... don’t seem very nice.”  _

Skywalker studied her for a moment, “I’m guessing Basic isn’t your first language.” in a wryly tone. 

Naliah smiled,  _ “We call it English on my planet, but no it’s not my first language. That obvious huh?” _

“Only because it isn’t mine either. Not all of us can have as proper of a manner of speaking as Obi-Wan.” Skywalker finished the sentence in a mockery of Kenobi’s accent. 

Naliah laughed at the sudden playfulness and several other clones in the marina turned to look at what was the cause of the noise. Can’t a girl cackle like an animal in peace? 

_ “You speak it better than me. My language doesn’t really use words.”  _

“Really? What’s it sound like?” 

Naliah let out a series of rapid clicks and sharp whistles. 

“Huh. Sounds kind of like Binary, what did you say?” 

_ “That the mop of hair on your head could do with some time with a brush.”  _

“Hey!” 

“I hope we aren’t interrupting something.” 

Naliah and Skywalker both looked back towards Kenobi and Tano, who were making their way down the dock. They both sat down next to Skywalker as Kenobi gave them both a look that clearly meant to elaborate. 

“ _ You aren’t missing much. We were discussing the war before Skywalker’s bad hair decisions got us distracted.”  _

Kenobi chuckled and Tano’s eyes began to sparkle with mischief before adding, “Oh I like her a lot.” 

“Snips, I’m thinking we have that all out sparring session right now.” 

“Bring it Skyguy!” 

“Enough you two!” Kenobi let out a heavy sigh before turning back to Naliah. “The Council has decided that you must meet with them on Coruscant to further discuss the issue of the Trident as soon as this invasion is over. From what you’ve told us, the Trident could potentially be as large of a threat as the war, especially if Count Dooku learns of its existence. Jedi all across the galaxy felt your arrival, I sense it won’t be long before the Sith discover what’s going on.” 

_ “Well how do we speed up this invasion?”  _

“We?” 

_ “We. You’re not lying about how horrible the droid army is, I would be able to tell. You could’ve left me on the beach to die but you didn’t. At the very least I owe you a life debt. But I’m not going to let innocents be conquered and I just fought a war to make sure it would never happen again on my planet. I was one of them, a long time ago. So you’ve got my help.”  _

Tano regarded her with wide eyes. “How can you be so sure you can help us speed up the invasion? You seem like you have the Force but you don’t even read as Force-Sensitive?” 

_ “I’m not. But I’m a lot stronger than you think.”  _

Naliah pushed off the dock, still facing the three on it and lifted an arm skywards. The dusty-purple sky of Ando darkened as several angry thunder clouds filled it. Naliah twisted her fingers inwards and several series of lightning strikes traced their way across the clouds. The temperature noticeably dropped and her eyes began to glow white. She almost forgot how good it felt to call a storm, to hold the will of the sky-fire at the tips of her fingers. Almost. She let out a breath and the weather reverted back to its natural state, as if nothing was there to change it in the first place. 

Skywalker was the first to speak. “...I thought you were drained?” 

Naliah attempted to keep the amusement out of her mind’s voice but failed.  _ “I am, that was just a light show. I can’t fight an entire planet but I’ll be able to shift it into your favor. So what's causing the holdup?”  _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah our girl naliah ain't force sensitive for reasons to be explained later. also i pronounce naliah as na-lee-ah if you were wondering. she's gonna be op but not too op? like her kind is extremely powerful but its in a different way than the jedi. im probably gonna expand on her powers and abilities more next chapter and maybe introduce her sisters? idk yet. kudos & comments are much appreciated!


	3. Discoveries

**Pacifc Ocean, Earth**

Kaimara was not having a good day. Neither were any of her sisters if she was being completely honest. Their collective foul mood was to be blamed by their youngest and most reckless sister, Naliah, daughter of Kiara, and the thirteenth member of the Nereidian _Aimeras_ . Nereids were nomadic and didn’t have a structured central government outside their own packs, but in times of war, the strongest pack would be named _Aimeras_ to lead the Nereids against whatever adversary they faced. 

Right now Kaimara’s biggest adversary was her little sister. 

As the eldest of the thirteen ruling sisters, Kiamara is the highest ranked Nereid, or _Prota Aimera_ , in their super-colony. She’s also the leader of her own pack of wayward sisters but that doesn’t stop them from undermining her at every chance they get. Shaken from her brooding by chiming of her cowrie shells, she swims off to the war room to meet the rest of her present family. 

  
  


Kaimara glances towards the giant holo-map of the surface oceans and deep underground channels. “Do we have any idea where she went?” 

Noelani, Kaimara’s twin and her second in command, nodded. “She took her shells with her, but we lost the signal around the Marianas. She was diving deep. Fast.” 

At that moment Arcadie, her third, Indra and Ravenna swam in. Arcadie plugged in her own shells to the table. “Our dearest sea cucumber of a sister was heading towards Nehemia’s Ridge. If she ever paid attention, she would’ve known that there is a particularly powerful portal located there and not gone alone _like I said_.” Arcadie’s last series of clicks trailed off into a growl. 

Indra, ignoring her sister’s frustration continued. “You know what that Trident put her through, what it put _all of us_ through. She wants that thing back with us, even if it means going at it alone.” 

Arcadie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “We are sisters and _we are pack_ , we don’t go at things this big alone!” 

“Well if you had not blown her off and gone with her, maybe she would still be here!” 

Kaimara roared loudly at the two of them, and both sisters stopped for the moment. Ravenna, who had been watching from the side of the room, decided now was a good time to jump in. 

“If you four are done, that’s not the only news.” 

Kaimara snarled at her younger sister, not in the mood to play games. 

Ravenna held her hands at her side and spread her pectoral fins in a placating gesture. “Sorry Kai.” She swam up towards the holo-table, facing her sisters directly. “I asked Shabina, Zarya, and Melissende to check out the ridge. The portal had been activated and there were bodies. Atlantean bodies.” Ravenna’s voice grew serious as she went on. “Shabina said that it was a group of twelve males that went after Liah. Liah dropped five bodies. Do the math and-” 

“Seven very angry males looking for revenge went through with her.” 

Arcadie sighed, turning back towards the map. “Oh Naliah you never do things by halves.” Her voice was soft. “What do we do now?” 

Kaimara thought for a moment, hands spread wide across the holo-table. “We recall the pack back to this way-point. Ravenna and Shabina are the best at water-song, they might be able to come up with something to track her through the portal. Noelani, you and I will meet Shabina, Zarya, and Melissende at the Ridge and head to Atlantis. We need to speak with Queen Enya and King Anshul and find out which males went after her. Naliah’s strong in Oya’s gifts, she’ll be ok. If she’s anything like you, Arcadie, which I know she is, by the time we find her she will have slaughtered the Atlanteans that tried to kill her and found the Trident all on her own.” 

Arcadie let a ghost of a smile cross her face at Kaimara’s words. “What would we do without your leadership, dear sister?”

“You’d all turn out like Naliah.” 

  
  


**Ando**

After explaining the situation of invisible droids to Naliah, the three Jedi went off to do whatever Jedi did during the night while Naliah decided to do some scouting. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to leave the marina but she’ll just blame it on not speaking Basic well enough to understand. Plus, she was hungry and she’s a lot more comfortable hunting at night than during the day. From what the Jedi told her, if they can get to the capital on the main island the planet will fall quickly. However, the cloaked droids were stationed in various points along the 60 kilometer run across open water, but the droids couldn’t storm the island without leaving the capital vulnerable to the other Jedi on other islands. 

A klick out, Naliah hit the drop off and decided it was a good time to see how well her wounds healed. Nereids were the fastest creatures in the ocean with Atlanteans following closely behind. With a couple flicks of her tail, Naliah hit top speed and set out to get her first look at the droids. She swam for several more klicks until she approached a massive trench. She sent out several scouting clicks, waiting for the sound to map out what exactly was down there. 

_animal-rock-rock-animal-ew very weird animal-tunnel?-no droids_

She glanced down, debating if she should go down there to check out the tunnel. Deciding to check it out on the way back, she swam across and continued sonically mapping out the ocean of Ando. She picked up on several metal objects about five klicks north of her along the ocean floor. Slowing to a halt about 500 meters behind them, she could “see” several battalions forming a blockade. 

_Echolocation really is a blessing in disguise._

She crept forward slowly, trying to get a more detailed look at the droids. They were as big as her in this form, and their arms doubled as the Sepreratist equivalent of Atlantean plasma blasters. Past them, there were several large cannons floating about halfway to the surface. 

_Those must be what's stopping the Jedi from using aircraft._

Naliah turned to leave but in her haste, moved too quickly. Ten droids made a whining sound and turned to where she was. 

_Oh fuck._

As they opened fire, Naliah shot off, creating a huge trailing wake. She knew she could outrun them, it was more about dodging the plasma fire. As she approached the trench she realized that if she led the droids back to the Republic base, she'd be condemning them to death. She glanced towards the trench and banked hard before going into a dive. 

_Alright guys, let's see how you deal with pressure._

The droids were still on her as she dove, and Naliah sent back a blast of water in an attempt to get them to stop firing. She managed to destroy the first two, but the rest recovered and continued the chase. She was at half-strength but didn’t want to waste it on some programming chasing her. She spoke too soon because as she thought that, a bolt struck her shoulder, stunning her. 

_Are you kidding me?_

The bolts wouldn’t kill her, she wields sky-fire for Yemoja’s sake! But if they managed to hit her head and knock her out? She didn’t want to get captured and made into a slave. Not again. Deciding that she was going to put those sky-fire skills into use, she entered a tight series of spins before bolting upwards, leaving the droids below her. She reached for her power and threw out her hands, lightning wrapping around her arms and shooting out from her palms and fingertips. The droids exploded on contact, breaking apart and melting from the heat. 

Breathing heavily, she slowly swam forwards and grabbed the arm of a droid and dove down towards the tunnels. If this planet is anything like Earth, the tunnels could be a way for them to sneak past the droids undetected to the capital city. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


_“My Ani. Oh, how you’ve grown.”_

_Glassy eyes turned upwards. The stench of blood. The flash of a blue blade. Burning flesh. Screaming._

_rage-pain-hate-rage-pain-hate-_ **_power_ **

_Water filling his lungs. A flash of silver. Cries of help. The crackle of an electro-whip. The sound of chains cracking against each other._

_“Mom no, please don’t go back!”_

_“My sweet queen of storms, you must be brave.”_

_Two Nereids holding hands facing each other, not Naliah but similar. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin. One glanced towards him._

_“Ravenna look!”_

_He was being dragged down._

_Deeper, deeper, deeper…_

  
  


Anakin woke up with a start. He was on the floor of the command center propped up against the holo table. The first rays of light were just beginning to shine across the horizon. He wiped his hand across his face, attempting to clear the cobwebs in his brain. He must’ve dozed off trying to figure out how to get past the droids. The doors to the command opened and Obi-Wan walked in, looking significantly more put together, holding a cup in one hand and a medium sized bag in the other. 

“Caf?” 

Anakin accepted it wordlessly. 

“When was the last time you got more than two hour’s sleep?” 

Anakin snorted and turned back towards Obi-Wan. “Pot, meet kettle.”

Obi-Wan rounded the table glancing down at the various strategies Anakin’s sleep deprived brain could come up with, “Well yes, but I do make sure to keep my lack of self-preservation to my own quarters. I would never allow it to show in public.” He finished with an air of sarcasm. 

Anakin decided now would be a good time to switch the subject. “What’s in the bag.” 

Obi-Wan gave him a look that meant _we’re not done with this_ but allowed his deflection. “One of the dawn patrols found it. I’m thinking it belongs to Naliah.” 

“What makes you think that?”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and poured the contents of the bag onto the table. There were a few changes of clothes, a shell bracelet, a large bag of coins with strange symbols on them, a device that looked like a data pad with more strange symbols, a smaller version of that, a necklace with a small stone attached, and two sword hilts but no blade. 

“Yeah, I think this is her’s.” Anakin held up the sword hilts. “What do you think these are for?” 

Obi-Wan motioned towards the marina. “Why don’t we ask her ourselves?” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The chill of Ando’s morning air was making itself _very_ known as Anakin and Obi-Wan walked towards the dock. Anakin pulled his cloak tighter around his body, his annoyance bleeding the Force. Obi-Wan smiled, “Don’t fret Anakin, we could be in a desert world.” Anakin glared back at him and shot a particularly rude Huttese curse back to his master through the Force. “Language, Anakin!” They reached the end of the dock. 

“What do we do now? Can she hear us if we yell?” 

Obi-Wan gave Anakin an exasperated look. “That seems like quite an inefficient means of communication.” 

Before Anakin could reply, Naliah’s head popped up from the entrance of the marina. She let out a sharp whistle before diving back under the water. She appeared at the dock moments later, speaking in a mixture of loud clicks, whistles, and growls, excitement clear in the Force. 

“Naliah!” The Nereid stopped confusion making its way onto her face. “We can’t understand you.” 

_“Oh. Oops. You know how you told me to stay in the harbor? Well I got really hungry so I went out to go hunting and I accidentally… uh… yeah accidentally found that blo-ck-ade of droids you were talking about and-”_

“You what?” 

Obi-Wan had a look of horror etch his way onto his features before it was quickly wiped off. “Dear Force, there’s three of them now.” 

_“I had it under control! Anyways I found them and a pack chased me but I got rid of them. But I had a theory that they weren’t meant for deep water so I took one of the parts down to the bottom of that trench a few klicks out and look.”_

She held up a mangled aqua-droid arm, several times smaller than what it should be. 

Anakin and Obi-Wan gave her a look before Anakin spoke up. “And this helps us because…?” 

Naliah shook her head, as if she couldn’t comprehend why Anakin and Obi-Wan didn’t understand what she was getting at. _“You guys can use the tunnels that run through the trench without the droids following you down there manta-brains! Your transports can handle it, they’re strong enough. There’s a 1000 meter open run after the tunnel ends where a bunch of droids are, but that cloaking is hooked up to… er…”_ Naliah threw up an image of several droids behind a ray shield operating a series of holo-tables with satellites projecting a signal back towards the ocean.

“A relay unit?” 

_“Yes that! The plasma shield might be a problem but if we destroy that, then no more invisible droids and the rest of your forces can push through to the capital no problem!”_ Her mind’s voice was practically deafening as she finished, but it was a nice voice. Anakin had no problem listening to it. 

_Wait. What? Oh no._

Before Anakin could go down _that_ rabbit hole of thinking, Obi-Wan’s questions brought him back to the present. “You’re saying that there are _tunnels_ that run under Ando’s oceans?” 

_“Yeah, my planet does too. Humans call it the ‘Hollow Earth’ theory or something. I figured same rules apply here.”_ She paused as she cocked her head and pushed up onto the dock. A slow smile spread across her face, _“You guys didn’t know either huh?”_ her voice filled with smug amusement. 

Obi-Wan shook his head. “No I’m afraid we did not. I’m going to go alert Knight Secura, Master Fisto, and Master Koon.” He turned back towards Naliah. “I don’t suppose you have a battle strategy lined up as well?” 

_“If I had all the answers, I would have the Trident and be back on Terra. But seriously if you can’t find maps, I’ll lead you through the tunnels. You’ll need a guide.”_

Obi-Wan sighed dramatically and turned to leave. “Well I suppose it was worth a try. And I’ll pass the message along. Anakin please make sure to give Naliah what we came to give her and try not to be too late to the briefing.” He called over his shoulder. 

_“Give me?”_

Anakin turned back to Naliah. “Oh yeah... sorry. My men found it this morning.” He shifted awkwardly as he opened up his cloak and knelt down to hand her the bag. “We assumed it was yours.” 

Naliah’s eyes widened and she let out a high pitched whistle-shriek that Anakin had to cover his ears for. She took it carefully before sniffing it and peering through its contents. She grinned as she grabbed one of the sword hilts and with a flick of her wrist, a black blade extended from it, gleaming wickedly in the morning light. She flicked her wrist back inwards and the blade retracted back into the hilt. She put the hilt back into the bag, closed it, and let it float on the water. 

_“I thought I lost it in the portal! You have no idea how much it means to me.. Thank you, Anakin.”_

She reached up and gently grabbed the back of his head with her hands, touching her forehead against his before grabbing her bag and diving back under the surface. 

_She called me Anakin._ He paused for a moment letting the warm feeling wash over him. Then stopped. _Sithspit._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so we finally meet a few of naliah's 12 sisters. i promise we're gonna meet naliah in her human form soon, probably in the next two chapters. sky-fire is what the nereids call lightning if you didn't pick up on it. anyways, if you've made it this far, thank you for reading! kudos and comments are appreciated! school is starting soon so i have no idea how much i'll be able to update but i'll try my best!


	4. Leviathan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: slight body horror

It took a full week for the Jedi to adjust their attack plans using Naliah’s information. Granted, they still had to engage in small skirmishes across the coast during that time as well. They also used this extra time to search for any type of map on the Andoan tunnels but there wasn’t any recorded information on them. Which meant Naliah was the only being in the galaxy with an idea of what was down there. Great. The extra time spent planning did allow Naliah to renew enough power to where she was more confident in her ability to get the Republic forces through without killing them all, so that’s a plus. 

She may disobey her sisters sometimes, (more often than not, she’s on another planet like come on) but they’ve always been there to watch her back. It’s not the first time she’s led battles, she’s young but she’s still an _Aimera,_ and has been fighting a war for the better part of ten years. Though, it will be the first time she’s going to lead (part) of a battle without the support of her sisters whatsoever. Assassinations? Easy. Freeing Nereids from Atlantean death camps with the Huntresses? She’s your Siren. 

But coming up with battle strategies and leading directly from the front lines? Not exactly what she was meant for. Kaimara is the first for a reason. 

She’s shaken from her musings by the arrival of Padawan Tano. Or Commander Tano? Land-walkers were always so particular about their titles. She swims to the dock and leans onto it. Tano, startled by her sudden arrival, jumps before recognizing it was just Naliah. She sits down on the dock to meet Naliah at eye-level. 

“Sorry, it’s just that I’m not used to things sneaking up on me like that. You’re really quiet!” 

Naliah smiled, _“It’s all part of being an apex predator, I guess.”_ She paused, gears turning in her head, then peered at the “horns” at the top of Tano’s head. She sent out two quiet clicks directed at them and was happy to find that they were hollow, and her theory was correct. Tano could echolocate too! 

_“Well that explains why you seemed so aware of your territory.”_ Naliah chirped happily. _“What species are you? And what do you call those things?”_

Tano giggled, eyes lighting up in excitement. “I’m a Togruta and these are called montrals.” She motioned towards the tail-looking appendages. “And these are called lekku.” 

Naliah nodded, taking in the information. Then she glanced in the direction of the command center. _“Not that I don’t enjoy your company… Commander Tano or Padawan Tano? Oh I felt that, neither one? Just Tano? Land-walker titles are odd.”_

Ahsoka shook her head. “I understand, it can be a lot. I prefer Ahsoka anyways.” 

_“Ahsoka then. Anyways, why’d you come out here? You guys have barely left command since yesterday.”_

“Oh! Right! Master sent me to ask if you’re strong enough to attend the final briefing. They want you to be there.” 

In other words, everyone wanted to know if the half-dead Nereid that showed up a week ago could even guide them through the tunnels without passing out. 

_“Yeah, I’m strong enough. You might want to look away, shifts aren’t pretty.”_

Ahsoka puffed up and jutted out her chin. “I can handle it.” 

Naliah sighed. _“I’m not responsible for any nightmares you may have.”_

She pulled herself onto the dock and turned onto her back. She held out a hand and to push the water off her body, drying herself. She was glad Anakin found her bag because the necklace she was wearing was her terrestrial combat suit in its stored form. Thank Oya for nano-tech. 

The shift always starts in the face, then works its way downwards. Her teeth became blunt, eyes lightening to a dark amber color. Her skin lost the sheen of grey, turning into a rich shade of sun-tanned bronze while the splattering of scales across her body went from grey to a glittering gold. Her hands lost their webbing and her claws went into her skin. Then came the worst part. Her tail and dorsal spines. Pain raced through her body and her bones started to snap. She screeched, hands grasping at the dock and lashing her tail as it suddenly split into two. The extra flesh, split stinger, and tail fluke formed into legs. Her spines also began to snap and retreated into her flesh. As the shift finished, her necklace bled down and covered her body with a form-fitting outfit, like a catsuit but made of a heat proof material to cope with her storm wielding. Her combat suit was black with midnight blue details, long sleeved, and extended down into boots. 

She fell back onto the dock, panting attempting to work through the receding pain. Naliah rolled onto all fours and sat back on her legs, flexing her fingers, and rolling out her shoulders, testing out her now semi-human muscles. The only physical features that separated her from a human now were the twin sets of closed gill slits in her neck, her canines and incisors which were slightly sharper and pointier than what they should be, and the gold scales that were visible on her face and hands.

_shock-horror-sorrow-wonder_

Shit. She must have not shielded her pain enough from Ahsoka. Naliah attempted to stand but stumbled almost immediately. Ahsoka rushed forward to catch her, concern evident in her voice. “Are you ok?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Naliah’s voice was rough and she attempted to clear her throat. “Just… haven’t done that in a while. Sea legs.” She offered as an explanation. She stood up straight and walked a few steps forwards. “I’ll be fine by the time we get to command.” Naliah paused and turned back to the water. She was forgetting something. She stretched out a hand and a plume of water holding her sword hilts and cowrie shells appeared out of the marina, dropping into Naliah’s hand. Right, she might need these. She slid the swords onto the belt at her hips and tugged the cowrie shells onto her wrist. She turned back to face Ahsoka, the young Torgruta’s face still awash with shock. 

“You go through that everytime?” 

Naliah laid both her hands onto her shoulders, staring into her eyes. “It used to be a lot worse.” She said softly. “But it’s part of being a Nereid. I appreciate your concern though. Not many land-walkers have ever cared about the pain we go through to be considered normal to them.” She squeezed Ahsoka’s shoulders. “You have a kind heart Ahsoka.” Naliah motioned her head towards the command center, a teasing tone in her voice. “Come on, we have a planet to free.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Anakin stared at the still-closed doors of the command center as the briefing began. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Rex and Cody were all crowded around the holo-table while Knight Aayla Secura, Master Kit-Fisto, Master Plo Koon, and Admiral Yularen were attending via holos. He sent a wave of questioning through his bond with Ahsoka. A few moments later, the doors opened. 

“My apologies, shifting into this form took longer than expected.” 

Everyone, including the other Jedi and Admiral Yularen, jumped. Then Anakin’s brain managed to register who it was, and his heart stuttered again. Naliah was dressed in a tight-fitting suit, like the clones’ blacks but thicker, with dark blue markings tracing their way from the neckline down her to arms. Her swords were attached to a dark blue belt slung across her hips. The grey sheen to her skin had vanished, gold taking its place, and her eyes were lighter as well. Her hair, which he had only seen soaking wet, was shorter out of the water but the coils were tighter, and it was much more voluminous, hiding the gill slits at her neck. 

He was so screwed. Even Rex and Cody had looks of disbelief, as if they could not wrap their head around the fact that she was the creature they took off the beach. Despite looking like an angel straight from the moons of Iego, the walk up to the holo table re-established the fact that Nailah was first and foremost, an apex predator meant to take on the toughest creatures in the ocean. The fluidity of her movements was uncanny, even making _Ahsoka_ look clumsy and awkward. She seemed to stalk up to the holo-table, movements controlled and precise. Something primal in Anakin’s brain screamed _fear her_. 

She was as beautiful as she was terrifying.

If Naliah picked up on any of their feelings, she didn’t show it. She quickly scanned the room, shoulders thrown back, arms loose at her sides. 

_She’s sizing us up. Wait she’s, what, a head taller than Ahsoka? Doesn’t matter, still intimidating._

Obi-Wan, who _appeared_ not to be affected by Naliah’s spine chilling presence, was the first to speak. “It’s quite alright, we’ve only just begun.” He turned back towards the holo-figures. “This is Naliah, she is responsible for the intel we used to plan this assault, as well as our disturbance in the Force.” 

Aalya looked over at Naliah. “Just Naliah?” 

Naliah let a small smile flash across her face. “My kind doesn’t use last names. My full title is Naliah, daughter of Kiara of the _Wúrà_ , and the thirteenth of the ruling _Aimera’s,_ leaders of Nereids.” 

Anakin’s eyes widened. 

_She’s a queen? No, no, no, I cannot go through this again… do I have a type?_

The collective shock that shot through the Force was unmistakable. There was no way Naliah did not feel that. 

Ahsoka whipped her head around to face her. “You never said you were a queen!” 

“Oh no, I’m not a queen. My sister, Kaimara, would be the closest thing you would see as a queen. Nereidian politics are complex if you aren’t sea-born, I won’t try and waste time trying to explain it.”

Master Koon nodded. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to discuss this when we get back to the Temple. Knight Skywalker, if you wouldn’t mind, run through what the exact plan was again.” 

Anakin pulled up the maps of the ocean. “We can’t go across because of the cloaked droids, but we can go through the tunnels because the droids aren’t equipped to handle the pressure of the deep water. There aren’t any maps of the channels so that’s where Naliah comes in. Once the 212th and 501st get through, we’ll have to make an open water run across the seafloor to get to the relay unit on the beach. When we destroy that, the droids won’t be cloaked anymore and that's when Generals Secura, Fisto, and Koon can destroy the anti-aircraft cannons. When those are gone, Admiral Yularen will be able to launch the fighters and provide air support.” 

Rex stepped forward. “How many droids are stationed across that run?” 

Anakin glanced at Naliah as she spoke up. “At the least? Three battalions with heavy cannons. We’re outnumbered. In water that dark, they’re using motion sensors, so you’ve got about 250 meters of space after the tunnel, if you’re careful, before you trigger them. Are your transports fitted with sonar?” 

Cody shook his head. “No, only the older models. It’s an outdated way to navigate.”

“Sound is the only way you’re going to be able to see the droids before that relay unit is destroyed. The don’t pick up on high frequency sound waves. If they did, I wouldn’t have been able to get near them. So either you only bring transports with sonar, or bring all of them and have a good number swim blind.” 

Rex jumped in. “Window of opportunity?” 

Naliah cocked her head trying to work out the numbers. “Once we engage? Thirty minutes max before they have us surrounded.” 

Anakin thought for a moment before an idea came to him. “We can take all the transports.” 

“How are we going to do that?” Obi-Wan said in a disbelieving tone. 

“We use that 250 meters of space to set up a formation. The transports with sonar will stay tight while the ones without surround them. The transports with sonar can be patched into a company and they can tell them where to aim their guns. They will be the eyes. The gunners will be able to clear out a path and Ahsoka and I will push through onto the beach and take out the relay unit. Once that happens, we can break formation, land, and take the capital city while the other units take out the anti-aircraft cannons.”

Aalya nodded her voice laced with fond exasperation. “I should’ve known it was going to be a risky plan when you opened your mouth, Skywalker. But it’s our best option.”

Obi-Wan met the eyes of everyone present. “Are there any objections to the plan? Any other concerns?” No one said anything. “Then we will be seeing each other in the capital. May the Force be with you.”

“And with you, Master Kenobi.” The holos disappeared.

Rex turned towards Naliah. “Ma’am, not to be out of place, but could you run us through what route we’ll be taking through the tunnels?”

“Just call me Naliah… I’m sorry what’s your name?” She looked back and forth between Rex and Cody. “Both of you?”

“Captain Rex.”

“Commander Cody.”

She dipped her head and smiled softly. “Captain Rex, Commander Cody, it’s nice to meet you properly. And of course, you don’t need to worry about asking questions.” She took off her shell bracelet and held a hand over it. It began to glow a brilliant blue and she placed it on the center of the table. She spread her hands in an outward motion and a holographic image of the tunnels was cast over the table. “We’ll enter through this opening at the bottom of the trench. It’s barley wide enough for one transport to come through at the entrance but it widens a few meters in. It splits into several systems, but we’ll take this one to the top left.” Naliah motioned towards the holo-image. We’ll take that through the entire way. There are a lot of points where the tunnel splits again but as long as we stay on the main path, we’ll exit out at this point and we’ll start setting up the formation. The only thing is there are a couple drop off zones that we shouldn’t linger over. I didn’t have the time to dive down to the bottom of those, so there could be something big down there.”

“You mapped all of that with your bracelet?”

She shook her head. “It just tracked my echolocation. I have a very vague idea what the other systems lead to. So let’s try not to go that way.”

“You’ll be on the lead ship then?” Cody asked, ever the strategist.

“I planned on swimming- “

Ahsoka gasped, her concern prominent in the Force. “You’re going to shift again? Why? You can guide us from the ship, can’t you?”

Anakin glanced towards Obi-Wan. There was something they didn’t know. 

Naliah shook her head. “Sound travels faster and longer in water. If I stay on the transports my senses will be dulled, and that’s something you can’t have in the depths. I’m the only one who will be able to tell exactly what’s down there, I’ll have to stay out.” Her voice grew lighter. “Besides, its all part of being a Nereid, remember?” She turned back towards Anakin and the others. “I’ll be able to keep up, trust me. I’m faster than I look.”

Obi-Wan nodded, stroking his beard. “I think we’ve covered everything. We can start prepping the men for our departure.”

They exited the command and Anakin fell in step with Ahsoka at the back of the group. He opened his mouth to ask Ahsoka about why she was so worried about Naliah shifting, but quickly shut it. Naliah’s hearing was even better than a Torgruta’s, there’s no way she wouldn’t hear. He asked through his and Ahsoka’s bond instead. She looked back at Anakin, her mind’s voice guarded, as if she didn’t want him to know what was bothering her. _“I saw her shift when I went to get her… its not a painless process.”_

Naliah was back in her preferred environment, waiting on the rest of the Republic forces. She swam around the entrance of the marina, trying to burn off a bit of her nerves. If she were back home, she doubted she would even be nervous. But this wasn’t home, and she wasn’t backing up her sisters against a horde of Atlanteans.

_It’s nothing new Liah, just a different enemy._

There was movement behind her. Anakin’s transport was there, they were ready. She looked back and met his eyes, signaling it was time. _“Try to keep up?”_ She smirked, and propelled forwards, feeling his residual awe at her showing off her speed. The transports filled out and followed her, making their way towards the trench. She did a few lazy loops and let out a few hunting calls. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that she was back home stalking prey in the Pacific, her sisters at her side. They hit open water and she began to dive, swimming even faster. She sighed. Kai would kill her if she caught Naliah this unfocused. She let her instincts take over and looked ahead. They were going to win, she was going to get off this planet, she would find the Trident, and she was going to see her sisters again. She had too.

_“Try to keep up?”_

Naliah shot off at a speed that even Anakin couldn’t replicate on land using the Force. The Nereid seemed to be full of surprises. While she was terrifying out of water, the depths seemed to bring out a whole other side of her. Naliah didn’t look like she was swimming through the water, rather, she was using the water to propel her forwards. Here, Naliah looked like she was home. Like she was untouchable. She glanced back and tilted her head her head downwards, flicking her eyes in the same direction. _“Dive.”_

They must be over the trench then. Anakin got on the comms and relayed the message. Their pilot, a shiny he had yet to learn the name of, flicked on the lights as they did. As they dove towards the bottom, Naliah suddenly slowed, dorsal spines flaring. She veered violently to the right, swam like that for a while, before veering back the other direction. She stopped again. _“Lights off, now.”_

“Kill the lights.”

Obi-Wan’s voice crackled to life. “Anakin, what’s going on?”

“Naliah sensed something. Have the subs with sonar picked anything it up?”

“No… hang on. There’s something big picking up right on the edge of the range.”

Naliah’s voice became loud in his mind. _“STAY STILL!”_

He got back on the open frequency. “Alright everyone, hold steady.”

Suddenly, Naliah’s silhouette was being highlighted by an eerie purple light. Collective unease shot through the Force. Ahsoka spoke quietly from beside him. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“You and me both kid.” Rex said in agreement.

Anakin’s eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light enough to make out that it was a _creature’s eye_ responsible for it. The eye alone was as big as a Republic gunship. No wonder Naliah was terrifying. She had to deal with this shit daily. Suddenly, the creature _roared._ The transport shook from the force of it, the glass on the view-port shaking, and everyone jumped to cover their ears (or montrals). Two other sets of eyes opened. “ _Tell the ones with sonar to bank right, get out front, and guide! You’ve got another 2k to the bottom, I’ll double back once I’ve finished with the leviathan!”_ The leviathan charged, and the water erupted into laser fire.

“Bank right and dive, Naliah is gonna deal with those things, let her draw them off!”

They turned sharply just as Naliah let out her own cry, higher pitched and sharper than the leviathan's, but nearly as loud. Her eyes began to glow white, and she swam to meet them.

_Yemoja if you get me through this, I will never jump through a portal again, I swear._

When you grow up in the deepest, darkest, pits of Oshun, one tends to see and often fight horrifying beings that shouldn’t exist on a near constant basis. That being said, _it doesn’t make it any fucking easier._ The three leviathans turn after her, and she bolts. Just because these things are monstrously huge, it doesn’t mean they’re slow. She’s planning on leading them to a subsection and losing them near the dead end, but one leviathan decides to double back and go after the trailing transports that were laying down cover fire. She roars again but the creatures have decided that she isn’t worth the chase and turn to follow the alpha. Fuck.

One snaps its massive armored head at a squad, and they don’t all dodge in time. Naliah feels white-hot fury rush through her veins, and she _screams_. She’s challenging them. The alpha leviathan roars back, rushing to meet her. She charges and throws out her hands, blasting a wave of lightning at it. The trench lights up, highlighting the giants and the small transports underneath them on the walls. Her bolts strikes her target, and the depths take on the scent of burning flesh. The leviathan snarls, disoriented, and Naliah is forced to dodge a tail-whip. She sends more blasts of lightning, but the other leviathans decide to join the fight and she’s pushed back on the defensive. At least their focus is off the transports. She leads them back downwards, the opposite direction of the transports. Her lightning is dealing massive amounts of damage, but it’s not enough. If she doesn’t end this soon, they’ll overrun her.

Naliah reaches deep and _pulls_ , going for the water in their lungs. The weakened creatures start writhing and choking on air, desperately trying to pull water back into their gills. But Naliah holds steady and she hears their massive hearts start to slow and eventually stop. She lets go, her body going limp. She’s going to have a splitting headache at the end of the day but right now she’s got a job to finish. She sends a wave of gratitude and condolences towards the transports that stayed behind and leads them down to the bottom. They enter one at a time through the tunnel, with Naliah entering last. She swims to the front, weaving between transports until she gets back to the front. Anakin shoots up from his seat, Ahsoka following closely behind, Obi-Wan manages to stay somewhat nonchalant.

“Are you ok?” Anakin asks. He’s pressed up against the glass, eyes searching for injuries.

She broadcasts to their two subs. _“Fine. They’re dead.”_

_horror-awe-shock-danger-confusion-_

Sometimes she wonders why she puts up with humans. _“It’s nothing I haven’t done before, come on, this way.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! i might re-write or heavily edit the first two chapters bc i feel i have a better sense of naliah's character and idk why i used obi-wan's pov in chap 1, but i really wanted to get this chapter out and start the end of the ando arc so i can start going back to more cannon material. according to google translate, wúrà is the yoruba word for gold so when naliah says that, she's referencing her pack name/heritage.


	5. Battle Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: graphic descriptions of violence

_“Mom can you tell a story?”_

_“Which one, stormheart?”_

_“The story of Aimera.”_

Naliah would give an arm and a fluke to have just one of her sisters with her. She blames the lower oxygen levels on why she’d even be happy to see Noelani _._ They’re halfway through the tunnel system and besides the leviathan incident, its been quiet. A land-born would think that was a good thing. Sea-borns know that when Oshun goes still, something is waiting on you to slip up. Quiet waters are deadly waters.

Unfortunately, she forgot to factor in the Jedi that are snooping in on her feelings. And by Jedi she meant Obi-Wan. _“Are you alright? Truly?”_

He must think she’s still shaken up from the leviathans then. She wishes. _“I’m fine.”_

He manages to scoff through his mind’s voice. _“For all your skills, you’re lacking in the art of deception.”_

Gods help her, these humans don’t know how to stop when they’re ahead. _“I’m fighting three million years’ worth of instincts right now, once I work through those, I’ll see you for learning the art of subtle manipulations.”_

To be fair, she is a Siren. If she wants something, she hits a pretty note or two and takes it. No need for anything other than mental manipulation.

They come up to a chasm that separates them from the continuation of the tunnel. She sends back the order to pause and asks if their scanners are picking up any lifeforms before sending out a few scouting clicks of her own. They all come up empty but it’s still to quiet for Naliah’s liking, so she sends them ahead and floats above the chasm, sending out clicks every so often.

_rock-rock-fish-rock-big movement-this way-mosasaur_

For the second time that day, Naliah has a _“are you fucking kidding me”_ moment.

_mosasaur-mosasaur-mosasaur-mosasaur-mosasaur_

Ok so there’s a pack of mosasaur or mosasaur-like creatures heading this way. If she fights them, there’s a chance she’ll drain a good bit of her power. If she tries to scare them off, they could see her as a threat and she’s back at the fighting option. If she let’s them come closer, they could pass by and leave them be. Or they’ll get pissed that there are a bunch of ships in their territory and look at that, back to fighting. All of this is thought in a few milliseconds, and she goes with the pass-by option. Naliah tells Anakin to cut the lights and she stops the few ships that haven’t made the crossing to wait.

A low rumbling growl makes its way towards her and she resists the urge to flatten against the floor of the tunnel. Mosasaurs were the preferred mounts of Atlantean warriors.

She puts herself between the ships and the chasm, other ships already out of sight. The tunnels are wide here, if the mosasaurs wanted a meal, they would have no problem chasing them down. She starts clicking faster, zeroing in on their location. She broadcasts to the ships behind her that they’ve got fifteen seconds before the pack reaches their position. Naliah knows they can’t see them but wants to give them the peace of mind.

The mosasaurs are a group of five, all adults thank Oya. She is not trying to deal with females with young. They’re beautiful creatures, and even deadlier hunters. Before the Water Wars, Nereids often sent their young on mosasaur hunts to hone their own skills in taking down prey, forming strong bonds with clans. Any mosasaur clan that sheltered a Nereid was long dead by now, murdered by Atlanteans.

_Nyssa is screaming, desperately trying to escape her restraints and an Atlantean male laughs, taking pleasure in her agony. These were birthing waters; they were supposed to be safe. Instead they’re tainted with a new mother’s blood. Her twin young are half-dead, being loaded into a cargo hold to trained in Atlantis. Nyssa hadn’t even had the time to name them. The Atlanteans decide that they had enough of her wailing, and they silence her with a plasma bolt through the eye. Naliah feels her too-hot sky-fire start to rise within her, Nyssa had promised her that she would be the ones to teach the twins about hunting when they got older. They were pack just as much as her sisters were._

_Her sister, Azura, holds Naliah down on the seafloor with a firm press of her flipper. She’s shaking, Naliah can’t speak the Mosasaur language fluently but she knows enough to tell that she’s praying to Oya, asking the goddess that her sister receives safe passage to the Deep Blue. She prays to Oshun that her nephews make it back to free waters one day, and she asks that she doesn’t lose Naliah and her pack to the Atlanteans too. It’s the day that Naliah swears to slaughter any and every creature that stands with King Dromo._

The mosasaurs stop, turning towards her. She trills softly, a forgotten greeting taught to her by a long dead culture. They trill back, recognizing that the sonic pattern is nothing like what is found on this planet, and they wish her well on her way back to her home waters, and dive back down to the depths. The Jedi pick up on her obvious distress, but she ignores their knocking on her shields and tells them its ok for the lights to be turned back on. She waves the ships through and thanks the gods that the water carries her tears away.

Obi-Wan watches as Nailah makes her way back to the front of the caravan and leads them on, body language betraying nothing about her emotions. Her mind? Her shields are possibly the strongest he’s ever seen, but that easy connection she had with him and his padawans is shut, mental walls built out of unforgiving cliff sides. He heard from the other transports that she mentioned something about a “mosasaur”, he’s never heard of the creature, he’ll have to ask about it later.

She’s completely shut down, he suspects its not from fear; she’s been the one causing fear in everyone, not the other way around.

_It’s grief._

He hasn’t known the Nereid long, but the signs of grief seem to be universal. It doesn’t take a Jedi to tell that she’s hurting. He wants to offer her comfort but doesn’t want to overstep his bounds. Perhaps he’ll pass the message along to Anakin.

Obi-Wan isn’t blind, and Anakin is as subtle as a bantha in a china shop. Naliah had asked for him after the briefing the morning they returned her belongings to her to express her thanks. She had touched his forehead with hers, grabbing the back of his neck as she did. It was the Nereidian way of showing deep gratitude, and when he mentioned this to Anakin, he seemed to visibly deflate in disappointment.

It seems the poor boy couldn’t catch a break. It hadn’t deterred him much though, when he wasn’t fighting or planning, he spent his time out on the docks with the Nereid. Eventually both himself and Ahsoka had been roped into spending time out there for at least an hour a day for the past week and it was clear that Naliah was not going anywhere. The girl was loyal to a fault, cared deeply about her people, and ridiculously powerful in her abilities. It’s a wonder that her and Anakin clicked. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t grown fond of her presence, despite her being the third element of his lineage’s propensity for chaos. He already unofficially had two padawans, what’s one more?

They make it through the rest of the tunnels without any mishaps, cruising easily through the channels. She halts them a few meters before the entrance and warns tells everyone that they’re at the exit. The transports file out one by one and slowly shift into Anakin’s formation. She exits last and takes her place near the front. Naliah slightly regrets not bringing her swords, but they would’ve caused drag in the water, so it was a lose-lose.

She can see the first wave of droids stationed at the edge of the drop off, the transports would be coming up from beneath them, using the same technique deep ocean sharks used hunting.

She feels the waves of anticipation rolling against her shields and the water seems to grow turbulent even though no one in their attack forces are moving. Oshun can sense what’s coming. Anakin sends a thought towards her. “ _Moving out in five, four, three…”_

_Let Oshun work in our favor, let Chango grant us strength, and let Oya take those who fall to peaceful waters._

“Begin the attack.”

Naliah charges forwards, shooting lightning towards a squad of droids. They explode on impact. Behind her, the transports begin to shoot blasts of blue plasma fire against the droid’s red ones. The shots are hitting the droids at a good rate, so their plan must be working. Naliah whirls back around and begins to pick off stragglers, weaving between plasma bolts. They push forwards and she breaks off going after a few heavy cannons that were left unguarded.

They’ve made it to shallower waters, she can see the sun and the shoreline. There’s an explosion behind her and she turns to see that a few transports were hit, the clones aboard them now floating lifelessly in the water. She lets out a piercing roar, and gives herself to the storm, raining down sky-fire, letting each bolt break off and go after the droids she can sense through the water around her. Above her, the clouds began to turn a dark grey and the winds start to gust.

The line of droids eventually falls, and she sees Anakin’s transport as well as a few others go through, making the final push to shore. Obi-Wan stays in, he has to lead the attack from the water. She wants to guide them to shore but Naliah knows she needs to stay out in deep water, she’ll be of more use here. She sends a quick prayer to Yemoja for their safety, then turns and rams into a few more droids, stabbing one through the head. It’s not as satisfying as actually killing something that is alive, she can’t feel it die, ensuring that it won’t come back and shoot her. She rushes forwards and rips off a droid that was trying to punch through the glass of a ship. Three more attempt to grab her from behind, but she whips her stinger at their necks and their heads go flying off. She supposes violent dismemberment will have to do.

Anakin gets onto the beach without losing any transports, and he thinks he can get through the Separatist forces on the shoreline cleanly. That is until the droidekas show up. Him and Ahsoka start deflecting blaster fire from the destroyers, but the clones aren’t so lucky, and a good number go down. They’re stuck between the ocean, the destroyers, and the battle droids; they’ve got no way out.

“Take cover!”

Everyone on the beach drops and a huge explosion rocks the beach. The destroyers and the battle droids near them are left a mangled mess of metal and he turns to see where the blast came from. Hardcase is climbing out of one of the transports and dropping back onto the beach, having used the cannons on it to take out the destroyers. He wants to stop and laugh because only _Hardcase_ would think of that, but there’s still a relay unit to destroy.

Anakin gives the order to move, and they’re pounding up the beach. He slices through several droids with his saber, Ahsoka following suit. They manage to breach the shield and Rex starts planting explosives with a few other clones across the unit. They get a good distance away and hit the detonator, watching as the station goes up in flames. He pulls out his holoprojector and sends a message to Aayla, Fisto, and Koon. “The unit is destroyed; you can begin your attacks.” He turns towards Rex. “It won’t take them long to get here, tell Obi-Wan to get out of the water, we need to head towards the city center.”

_“We’re getting out of the water, are you coming?”_

Naliah stops, they had managed to destroy all the droids that were currently here, and the next wave were miles away, on a collision course with the other Jedi generals. There was no need for her to stay in the water. Her instincts are screaming at her to not go, she will have to be in her most vulnerable state in front of hundreds of land-walkers that could easily end her. But she couldn’t let her friends siege the capital by themselves.

_“Yeah. Just bring me my swords.”_

They land on the beach and Naliah hides along the backside of a transport, shielding herself from view. The shift is faster this time, having done it earlier in the day but the pain is just as prominent. She hears a gasp from behind her and Obi-Wan is there. He’s not as easy to read as Ahsoka, (he’s not easy to read whatsoever which really bothers her) but it doesn’t take a telepath to tell what’s going through his head.

“So that’s why Ahsoka was so worried.” His voice is strained, she doesn’t blame him, he had to watch and hear her bones snap and reform into a completely different skeletal structure.

She dusts herself off and grabs her swords from him attaching them to her belt. “I’m fine, if I wasn’t meant to do it, I wouldn’t be able to.”

Obi-Wan scans over her body, double checking for injuries. Naliah rolls her eyes and nudges his shoulder, walking up the beach. “Stop being a mother orca and come on! I wanna see an alien planet!”

They have a few moments as everyone gathers on the beach before they move out, using the time to take a few breaths before throwing themselves back into the fray. They’ll be on foot and fighting in the streets, so they aren’t allowed to use any heavy artillery. Naliah stops near the edge of the clones, unsure of where she was supposed to go. Leaders go out in front, and she has no rank here, it would be disrespectful to assume she goes up there. In her culture, those new to a pack or colony stand at the end of the group until they are accepted. Obi-Wan stops and gives her a look, an eyebrow raised. “I thought you wanted to see an alien planet. Did you happen leave your enthusiasm in your other form?”

She glares at him and hisses softly. “No.” She replies flatly. She’s hesitant in her next choice of words, afraid of reminding him of her place in this. “I haven’t been accepted yet. I’m supposed to stand here. You can go ahead.” 

Obi-Wan’s look of mockery turns into one of confusion. “Whatever do you mean by that?”

Naliah sighs. “I’m an…” She struggles to remember the human terms “…outsider. I’m not one of you. So until I prove myself as one of you, I go here.”

Obi-Wan grabs her arm gently and pulls her forwards. “I can assure you Naliah, you have proved yourself today.” They walk through the throngs of clones towards the front where Anakin, Ahsoka, Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and a few other clones in different armor are standing. Anakin turns towards them.

“There they are, you get lost on the way up here?”

_Oh, so the sass passes from Master to Padawan._

Obi-Wan takes the playful jab in stride. “If we did it’s because I suffered one to many concussions from your flying. No, we did not get lost, just working through some cultural differences.”

Anakin glances at Naliah, and pushes a questioning feeling towards her. She doesn’t respond and he gives up, turning back towards the clones. “Alright men form up, we’re moving out.”

It’s a five-mile march through forest before they arrive at the city center. There weren’t supposed to be any droids until they got to the city, but Naliah starts clicking anyways, it doesn’t hurt to be to careful. She dropped back some separating herself from the leaders, she still isn’t completely comfortable up there.

_curiosity-wonder-amazement-fear_

She stifles a laugh. The clones are quickly becoming her favorite land-walkers. She turns and waves at the ones at the front and their heart rates shoot up. She puts a hand to her mouth and focuses all her energy into not laughing. Can she talk to them? She doesn’t want to get them in trouble. The leaders at the front are chatting quietly so she assumes she can. She spots a group of five that seem oddly familiar and drops back to meet them.

“Hi.” She never considered herself an overly friendly Siren, but socializing is important in Nereid society. 

If she could see their faces, she assumes that they would be blinking rapidly. One finally speaks up. “Uhhh… hi?” Great they were going to be bashful.

“I can read your emotions, you guys project really loud.”

_SHOCK-EMBARRASSMENT-SHOCK-SHOCK_

“When I said that, I didn’t mean to try harder.” Naliah remarked in a wry tone.

Another clone with different markings rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “Sorry ma’am, we’ll try to stay um… quiet.”

“No, you’re ok! It’s pretty funny, and just call me Naliah I have no idea what ma’am means. What are all of your names?”

“CT-6116, I go by Echo.”

_What?_

“I’m sorry, CT-6116? What is that a tag?”

The five clones look at each other before Echo looks back at her. “It’s our designation the Kaminoans used to separate us. Technically it’s the only identifier we get. We choose our own nicknames to feel like something more than a number.”

“More than a number? You’re human, they don’t recognize you as one?” She feels the clones shock wash up against her.

“Not everyone does. We were grown in a lab; some people just see us as... product.”

She growls. “Land-walkers are so particular about division. You look human, smell human, you are _clearly_ human. It’s ridiculous. Now tell me your names, not your _designations_.” She spits out the last word like it leaves a foul taste in her mouth.

_ASTONISHMENT-ASTONISHMENT-ASTONISHMENT_

“Hevy.”

“Droidbait.”

“Cutup.”

The last one to speak is hesitant to do so. “…Fives.”

_That’s why they were familiar._

She laughs eyes lighting up in amusement, grinning widely. “You were on the beach when I got here, no wonder you guys felt familiar!” She meets what she hopes is Fives’ eyes. “I’m sorry about trying to kill you by the way, instincts. If you’re still mad it’s ok.”

Fives chuckles. “I forgave you when you saved us from those things in the trench. We were one of the subs stayed behind.”

“Leviathan. Or at least that’s what we call them. Yeah, they’ve never been fun.”

Hevy’s head whips towards her, surprise clear in his voice. “You’ve fought one before?”

Naliah scoffs and kicks at a twig on the ground, her tone annoyed. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have to fight them. Always getting in our damn way. We always had to skirt around their territory when we went to Terra’s core. Never fuckin’ learned to not chase us. I think I killed my first one when I was six. I had help; I was with pack but still ugh.”

The clones are silent for a few moments before Fives responds, hits of awe making its way through his vocoder. “You’re a complete badass.”

She grins, wanting to respond but the latest round of reverb tells her they’re coming up on the city. She’s about to say her goodbyes when she spots that they all bear the same symbol on their left shoulder.

“What’s that marking for?” She pointed towards Fives.

Droidbait responds. “It’s our symbol for our squad, we’re Domino. We trained together.”

Naliah dips her head and begins to walk back towards the front. “Well Domino squad, it was nice to meet you. I’ll try to see you after the battle.”

The plan was simple. Destroy as many droids as possible, get to the city center, capture the Separatist general that had decided to hole up in the middle of the capital.

They enter the city, guns blazing, shooting down battle droid after battle droid. Naliah flicks out both her swords, the Nereidian metal easily slicing through the flimsy droids. She blocks plasma fire by throwing blasts of air at them, redirecting them into other droids. Any she misses are blasted with lightning. It’s a good day to be one of Oya’s chosen.

Anakin and Ahsoka are doing just as well, their green and blue lightsabers a blur of movement across from her. Obi-Wan and the 212th had gone a different way, flanking them. It’s going well until they near the center and the buildings begin to grow in height. They’re on the low ground, it’s easy to be the target of an ambush. Sure enough, a whining noise makes itself present and she barley has time to scream at everyone to take cover before a huge blast rocks the ground. The air fills with the scent of burning flesh and she hears screaming.

There are heavy cannons in the towers ahead of them, _how the hell did she miss it,_ that have them pinned down. Destroyer droids roll out from alleys and battle droids follow suit. She’s pressed up against a wall with a few other clones, there’s no way any of them could move without getting shot. Naliah looks around trying to find a way around but she’s out of her element, this isn’t the water. She locks eyes with Anakin, he’s across the street behind another wall, and he motions upwards with his hand. “ _Can you get onto the roof?”_

_The roof? What the hell? Why would he-_

_Oh._

If they can get onto the roof, they can draw them off, and the rest of the battalion can start firing again. She nods and they both jump simultaneously, pushing off each of the alleyway walls until they reach the top. The droids turn to fire on them, but Naliah is quicker, already bringing down huge bolts of lightning from the sky to take out the cannons in the towers and the buildings crumble under the force of them. Anakin focuses on the droids, lifting several squads into the air and crushing them into scrap metal. Ahsoka leads the clones into the main road and picks off the rest.

Naliah and Anakin both jump down from the roofs and take their place at the front with Ahsoka and Rex. Anakin has got a wild grin on his dirt smeared face but, he seems less… built up? He reminds her of the Nereids she’s freed when they’ve gotten their power dampeners off and are allowed to use their abilities for the first time in years. Dismissing the thought for now, she takes in the sight of the city center where the general is. She casts out her senses and she find that the inhabitants of the city are in the buildings surrounding the main tower. Droids begin to march out of the tower and Naliah flicks out her swords again.

_They’re being used as living shields._

Naliah turns towards Anakin. “You can feel them in the buildings, right?”

Anakin nods. “ _Sleemo_ cowards.” He pauses tone growing lighter. “But something tells me that we won’t have to work our way through them.”

She cocks her head, eyebrows furrowed, and is thoroughly confused until she hears the screaming of airships making their way towards them. She tilts her head up and watches as the ships surround the tower, guns trained on the top window. The droids power down and fall in the street and the clones begin to cheer loudly, throwing fists into the air.

_JOY-JOY-VICTORY-RELIEF-JOY_

Naliah laughs, the clone’s happiness infectious, allowing this moment of exhilaration after a battle before they rush down to go free the native people from their bindings.

Freeing beings that can’t take back their own freedom. Now that is something she’s used to doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anddddd we're at the end of the ando arc. also yes domino squad lives because i said so. if you weren't able to tell already, the gods/goddesses that are prominent in nereid society are based off of west african gods/goddesses. i'm a black girl that doesn't really see representation even in fanfics so fuck it i'll do it myself. school is fr starting this week so updates will probably come slower, but i might just not do my work lmao. this is my new fave coping mechanism so it all depends.


	6. Enter the Council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attacks

They spent three more days on Ando cleaning up before making the five-day journey from Ando to Coruscant. Naliah ended up going aboard Anakin’s flagship, the _Resolute_ , mostly because word had gotten out about how she felt about the treatment of the clones and the 501st claimed her before anyone else could. Rex also mentioned that she already wore a darker variation of their colors, so that was a factor as well. Leaving Ando was bittersweet. She had wanted nothing more than to get off the water planet when she first arrived but apparently, it might be the last time she’ll see Oshun for a while.

Naliah could count on one hand how many times she’s been in an airship. She’s never liked the experience and was sedated for two of those trips. It was loud and frightening to see how far away she was from Oshun, how far she was from her home. So, she was _extremely_ overwhelmed when they made it up to the _Resolute_ and saw the magnitude of that ship.

Anakin proudly explained that the ship in question was called a Venator-class Star Destroyer, over a kilometer long, and capable of being able to support the population of a small city. He then dragged her onto the bridge of the ship because _“Naliah, you have to see what happens when we go into hyperspace, its beautiful.”_ She didn’t even know what exactly hyperspace was, but he promised it would be worth her while, so she went with it.

The ship suddenly lurched, making a huge booming noise and the gentle lights of distant stars stretched before becoming blinding, and they were deposited in a tunnel of blue-white light. It was stunning. Naliah ended up probing Anakin for more information on the star destroyer, _because maybe if she knew more about the ship she wouldn’t get sent into a blinding panic when she was alone,_ and Anakin’s excitement about being able to talk about the technical aspects of the _Resolute_ to someone who was genuinely interested was nice to feel. Eventually he got pulled off to do Jedi General things and asked Ahsoka to give her a tour of the ship.

It was nice to have a few moments with the Torgruta again, and they passed the time exchanging tidbits about each other’s species, finding that they were both predatory species and could somewhat accurately mimic each other’s language. The tour ended with Ahsoka dropping her off at her temporary quarters, giving her a comm with her codes programmed into it so they would be able to physically communicate and a promise to get food in the morning.

Naliah thought she might be able to get away with not dealing with her growing feelings of panic by going to sleep, but her mind started focusing on the fact that _she couldn’t feel Oshun, she couldn’t feel the earth, it was so loud on the ship but she couldn’t tell what was going on outside because sound doesn’t travel in space, she was blind,_ and then she spiraled into a full blown panic attack. In an attempt to calm herself down after regaining some control of her bodily functions, she moved to the restroom, (apparently called a refresher here, stupid humans and all of their terms) sat in front of the mirror, and began to section her hair into the parts for mini braids. For Nereids with her hair type, braiding was an important part of social culture, the lengthy process used to strengthen relations with tribe members. Nereids would often use this time to discuss hunting techniques, catch up with tribe members that had been off with immediate pack, and most importantly, sing.

Male Nereids, referred to as Mer, lacked the capacity to preform advanced mental manipulation. Female Nereids, referred to as Sirens, used the bewitching nature of their songs to convince their targets to lower their mental shields, opening their minds to the Siren, before using their telepathic abilities to do whatever they wanted with them. So naturally, Naliah began to sing softly as she braided, trying to comfort herself in any way she could.

Unfortunately for her, all her good memories involving singing also involve her being with her family which was not here. With that thought, she started to spiral into panic attack number two. She held out a shaky hand and used the air to bring her phone and earphones to her, so she could at least try to trick her brain into thinking she’s singing with other Nereids and put her music on shuffle. It worked, thank gods, and she was able to finish her hair before collapsing of exhaustion into her bed.

She did manage to track down Domino squad and spend some time with them over the course of the trip as well. The hyperspace journey for Naliah consisted of getting breakfast with Ahsoka, going up to the training areas with her and Anakin, sometimes sparring with them, getting lunch, hanging out with the available members of Domino squad, going down to the hangar and “helping” Anakin with the aircraft down there, and then having varying levels of meltdowns at night.

Anakin came and drug her up to the bridge again when they were exiting hyperspace, for the same reasons as before. She gasped as the light tunnel faded away into normal space and they were dropped in front of a planet with lights crisscrossing its surface, ships all around them. They entered the atmosphere and realized Anakin was not exaggerating when he said the entire planet was just one big city, the closest thing she could equate it to was Tokyo but so much _bigger_. The landed in the military shipyard, waiting for Obi-Wan and the other Jedi to join them before boarding another transport, making their way to the Jedi Temple. She managed to reign in her focus enough to greet Knight Secura, Master Fisto, and Master Koon, but it’s all it was good for and she quickly turns back towards the windows drinking in the sights, smells, and sounds, casting out all her senses as far as they could go.

_amusement-curiosity-amusement_

She whips her head back towards the front of the transport and find that all the Jedi are observing her, clearly entertained by her bewilderment. “It’s not that funny.” Naliah says as she sinks back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest, glad the gold scaling in her face somewhat hides her blush.

Aalya laughs, eyes sparkling. “It’s just been a long time since we’ve seen anyone this starstruck by _Coruscant_ of all places.” She turns towards Anakin attempting to grab at his ear, but he fended her off as Ahsoka attempted not to laugh. “This womprat was the last person to be stunned by it and his reaction wasn’t nearly as good as yours.”

Naliah glances back outside the window. “It’s just so _different_. Human cities are nothing like this on the land.”

Obi-Wan gives her a thoughtful look, curiosity peaking through his voice. “Your cities in the water aren’t like this?” He motions towards her bracelet. “Your technology would suggest otherwise.”

Naliah shakes her head. “Nereids don’t really have cities, the literal translation is way-point. They’re centered around healing outposts. We’re nomadic, we only use way-points when pack members are too hurt for us to heal. We use them as command centers when we have too, but we try to use other areas. We don’t want to take up the space meant for the injured.” She suddenly tenses, because she knows what Coruscant reminds her of, but recovers quickly. “Atlantean cities are kind of like this. Not as loud though.”

“What are those like?” Plo Koon asks her.

_Disgusting. Awful. Blood-stained._

“Bright, they have to scare off all the deep-sea creatures. Beautiful to some, not really to me. Atlantis is the capital, it’s where the King and Queen live.”

The transport starts to slow and Naliah spots a large building with five spires on top of it come into view. “Is that your Temple?”

Anakin shifts in his seat to face her. “Sure is. First thoughts?”

“It’s bright, like a power well. It’s pretty too.”

They land and Anakin motions for her to get up. “Come on, time for your big day with the Council.”

The Temple was as stunning on the inside as it was on the outside. High ceilings decorated with beautiful works of art and statues of historical figures dotted across its grounds. There was a slight incident as they traveled up the turbo-lift, Naliah had no idea what it did and she startled, grabbing onto Anakin’s arm and hissing loudly before he explained it was supposed to do that and that it was just taking them to a different level. They entered a large room, practically made of windows with an assortment of chairs along the edges of it. Obi-Wan, Kit Fisto, and Plo Koon made their way towards their respective seats while Anakin, Ahsoka, Aalya, and Naliah stayed standing in the center. Eventually all the seats were filled by the rest of the Council members and the session began. The Jedi discussed the events of Ando and Naliah’s involvement and arrival before dismissing the three Jedi standing beside her, asking Naliah to stay.

Yoda, who was the leader of the Jedi, spoke to Naliah. “Troubling, the matter of the Trident is. You cannot destroy it, why?”

“The Trident can only be destroyed by someone who has the same power as it.”

Windu eyed her, suspicion in his voice. “And none of your people have its… power?”

Naliah swallowed a snarl and tried to keep the bite out of her voice. “No. The Trident was created by an Atlantean. Their power was of the stars, not the earth. When Atalan made his trident, he made it so only someone with an Atlantean’s power could destroy it.”

Obi-Wan joined in. “You mentioned your people were at war with the Atlanteans but negotiated a peace. If this weapon has caused so much discord, wouldn’t they want it neutralized as well?”

She let out a harsh laugh and tossed her head. “They do but they lost their power millennia ago.”

“Lost?”

_This is going to take so long_

“To fully understand you have to go back to the beginning. At one point in time, Nereids were the same as humans. The story I heard as a child is the first Nereids had a vison of land becoming dark and horror-filled, so they asked Yemoja for tails instead of legs and went back to the sea. We flourished. The gods granted us abilities in their image, and we became one with Oshun because Yemoja declared we were _meant_ to be there. The Atlanteans fell to Earth from the stars. Their power was a lot like yours now that I think about it. Their King, Atalan, founded Atlantis on an island in the middle of Oshun near a Nereid way-point. Atalan believed their power was better than ours, that his people were more civilized. He tried to… domesticate us. But we were stronger. That’s why he made the Trident so that it would turn our own power against us. He used it to flood Terra, slaughter us, wage war, all that.”

“Wouldn’t flooding Terra make it easier for your kind?”

“Nereids are born on land. The process of shifting will kill a newborn. Atalan flooded the Earth so that Atlantis would be the only place we could bear children safely. He would kill the newborn before killing the mother and everyone who dared to stay with her. Sadistic but effective. As most Atlantean techniques are.” Naliah’s voice trailed of softly as she finished her sentence.

_disgust-turmoil-sorrow_

“He hunted us for years. But Yemoja heard our cries for help and she granted a mother the gift of a daughter born of the same power. Aimera _,_ the star-walker. She united the Nereids with the help of her pack and led them against the Atlanteans. During the final battle Aimera and her siblings fought Atalan directly. She had enough power to destroy the Trident, but she had a vision. As long as the Atlanteans still had their power, there would never be peace on Terra. So she used her power to make the waters recede to where they once were, strip the Atlanteans of their power, and cast Atlantis into Oshun, making it so the Atlanteans would have to be born in water to survive. Aimera used the last of her power to split the Trident into three pieces before Atalan killed her. But without his power Atalan was defenseless, and Aimera’s siblings slaughtered him soon after. Atalan wasn’t stupid though. He tied his spirit to the Trident so that it’s power would continue to live on. An Atlantean General, Parius Dromo, managed to find all of the pieces and reassembled it. He took the throne and declared war against my people ten years ago.”

“Descendant of Aimera are you, as one of the leaders of Nereids?”

“No. The title of Aimera is given to the strongest and most capable pack at the time. Right now, it’s mine. We hold the title until we pass it to another, or it is decided we are unfit to lead.”

“You mentioned your sister was the primary leader. How many other leaders are there?” Kit Fisto asked.

“I have twelve other sisters.” Her voice tightened. “Normally leadership duties would be split more evenly with other members of tribe but we’re the only ones that survived the Atlantean purges.” Naliah felt a comforting mental presence brush across her mind and she recognized it as Obi-Wan’s. She sent the feeling of gratitude back and continued. “Kaimara is the first, she’s the strongest and best at politics and the whole…” She motioned with her hand trying to find more concise human words but couldn’t. “…leading thing. Her and my elder sisters were the ones who challenged for the title of Aimeras.”

“You didn’t want the title?” She’s getting the sense that Windu just likes to make other life forms miserable. She debates avoiding the truth but Arcadie always tells her that if she could not acknowledge her past, then it would always control her.

_You never mentioned how hard it was to talk about it though, dear sister._

Her voice became watery as she spoke. “I was captured and sent to a death camp with my mother, three of my sisters and most of my tribe. We were there for two years. Only my sisters and I made it out. Kiamara already had the title by then. I didn’t have a choice. Even if I did, I doubt I would’ve understood. I was still a child.”

A few members of the Council gasped.

Yoda dipped his head, voice heavy. “Deepest condolences to you, we offer.”

“Thank you.” Naliah’s voice strengthened again, growing dark. “That Trident has taken a lot from me. From a lot of Nereids. It changed the balance of Oshun in a few days. It’s important to me that I get it back even though none of us can destroy it. We can at least prevent another Dromo from rising again.”

“You said Yemoja _gifted_ Aimera. Could you elaborate on that?” Obi-Wan asked, hand on his chin and voice speculative.

“Her mother didn’t have a mate. To have that much power you must be _born_ to it.”

That sentence got the Council going. They started whispering furiously, the smell of panic leaking from their bodies. Yoda slammed his cane onto the ground, quieting the room and bringing the focus back onto him. “Sure of this, you are?”

_Sure of my own history? Yeah, I should be._

“All star-walkers lack a father.” Her tone matter-of-fact. 

Windu managed to say something that wasn’t condescending. “There have been more than one?”

Naliah nodded, stifling a sigh. “There have been three in our history. Aimera, Olana, and Kalia.”

Deepa Billiba spoke to her for the first time. “Is it possible… Knight Skywalker is the star-walker you need?” 

Anakin? The “pulled on a wrench too hard and nearly gave himself a black eye” Anakin? She wishes. It would make things easier. And funnier.

“No way. He’s stronger than Kaimara but not in the way a star-walker would be. A star-walker’s power is _devastating,_ they aren’t fully tied to this plane and they aren’t meant to be. Aimera overcame Atalan’s power pushing against hers to undo a global flood with a thought. Anakin is powerful but not that powerful.”

Naliah could tell they wanted to debate on this more but there were a lot of questions that they still needed to ask.

“Reevaluate young Skywalker’s status as the Chosen One, at a later time we will.” Yoda finally said. “Power of yours Naliah, come from where does it?”

_Gods, can I get a topic that isn’t loaded._

“No one really knows exactly. It’s internal that’s for sure. All Nerieds are capable of telepathy and water wielding and pretty strong compared to most species. The strongest Nereids are… chosen? I guess that’s the word. By a certain god or goddess and that’s the power they specialize in. Oya chose me, I have her powers.”

“She controls lightning?” Windu butted back in.

“She is the goddess of _storms,_ fire and spirits _;_ I just happen to be good at wielding sky-fire.”

“And these Atlanteans had the “power of the stars”.

She took a breath and closed her eyes. If she were back home, Windu would have been cast out a long time ago. “They probably had _your_ power considering the similarities. Or not yours. You manipulate outside forces.”

_“Easy now.”_

She’ll keep herself together for Obi-Wan’s sake.

“Must be found the Trident. Assist you we will.”

A bolt of fear rips through Naliah, but she thinks she managed to control her outside expression. Maybe. “I appreciate the offer, but I can handle it on my own.”

Yoda’s ears tilt downwards. “Threat to the entire galaxy, the Trident is. Get involved the Jedi and Republic must.”

Naliah shakes her head. “Power calls to power and the Trident has the same signature as yours. You’ll be corrupted by it.”

Windu pulled out a holo-projector and turned it on. “Unfortunately, this isn’t just a Nereidian matter anymore.”

Naliah took a few steps forwards to get a closer look. Ice crawls through her veins when she sees the footage. It’s the Atlanteans that chased her through the portal.

The footage shows the males leading a group of Separatist droids against villagers. They’re relentless, slicing through bodies with little finesse, just pure fury. A beautiful copper-skinned male with shoulder-length dark red hair leads the charge. A mother attempts to fight back, desperately trying to protect her children. She rushes forwards blaster raised, but he moves too quickly for her and plunges his hand into her body, ripping out her heart. His males turn on the children, tearing out flesh with their teeth and claws. The red-haired male turns towards the camera, dripping blood, his grin predatory. “Come and get us _Damasandra.”_ The footage ends.

The sick smell of fear permeates the Council chambers. Naliah is furious and the weather reflects her mood. The sun-lit sky of Coruscant turns pitch-black and lighting arcs against the against it, thunder shaking the chamber’s window. She wants blood.

“Naliah, calm yourself, please.” Obi-Wan looks the part of calm and collected but his scent doesn’t lie. He’s scared of her, as the rest of the Council is. The temperature in the room is arctic, she can see his breath as he speaks. A final burst of lighting flies across the sky, blinding the chambers and she lets go. The skies turn sunny again and the temperature returns to normal. 

Obi-Wan’s tone is careful. “You know who they are?”

She nods, jaw clenched, and barley keeps the growl out of her voice. “Dromo’s son and his Death Dealers. He’s called Kalce.” She pauses, trying to regain control of her instincts. “I’m sorry I brought this on your Republic, but I still can’t allow you to search for the Trident.”

Windu scowls. “These Atlanteans are aligned with the Separatists now, making it a Republic matter. You don’t have the jurisdiction to keep us out of it.”

Naliah snarls. “Watch your tone.” Windu raises his eyebrows and opens his mouth to respond but she continues. “I’m an Aimera. I lead my kind. I will not allow a _land-walker_ to capture the Trident. Especially one with the same power as it. You fear me. The Trident will feed on it and use that to control you.”

Windu scoffs, affronted. “A Jedi does not fear.”

She lets out a short, humorless laugh. “Every creature fears. To become fearless is to acknowledge those fears and overcome them. Denial of them is arrogance, and a fear within itself.”

“How dare you- “

“Enough!” Yoda is glaring at Windu and her. Serves him right.

“Much to discuss we have. Fit it all into one session, we cannot. Summoned to the Senate, Naliah has been.” He gives her a cursory look. “Willing to meet with them today, are you?”

Honestly, no. Her feet hurt, she was annoyed, and she’s fighting off the sensory overload due to being on land. But she wants to get all the deliberation over so she can find the fucking Trident and get home.

“I am.”

“Accompany you, Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker will. See you and Skywalker personally, the Chancellor wants. Dismissed, we are.”

“She told Windu _what_?”

Obi-Wan doesn’t look up from his datapad. “To most life-forms the literal translation would be fuck off.”

They were in Obi-Wan’s apartment to let Naliah change and wait for Ahsoka, who was stuck in class. Anakin had commed her to let her know where they were going but she demanded they wait for her so that she could go see Padme.

_Snips I really wish you didn’t get along with her right now._

Anakin’s eyes widened before collapsing back into the couch, shaking with laughter. “She’s my new best friend now. I’m sorry Obi-Wan, being friends with Windu has always been your one downfall and Naliah doesn’t have it.”

Obi-Wan still doesn’t meet his eyes. “Oh, how I’m so deeply saddened by your departure from my life. I don’t know how I’ll ever sleep soundly again.”

Naliah chooses then to exit the refresher. She changed from her combat suit into a pair of loose-fitting forest green pants with a tighter matching top that exposed her midriff. Her gold scaling is on full display, running down her cheekbones and temples to parts of her neck, across her collarbones, the tops of her arms, and sides of her stomach. She turns to the mirror, messing with her braids. “It’s ok Obi-Wan, I don’t want him either, you can have him back.”

“Oh joy.”

Anakin sighs. “All these years and you still only see me as another pathetic life form.”

Obi-Wan finally looks at him, clearly exasperated. “Will you ever let that go?”

He turns to respond but Naliah strides over and flops onto the couch, laying her head on Anakin’s lap. She grabs his hand and lays it over her forehead, eyes sliding shut.

_What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck._

“I.. uh.. what…”

_“Obi-Wan please help.”_

_“Oh no, I’m enjoying this far too much.”_

He regains some of his conscious thought after a moment. “Naliah… what are you doing?”

She flicks her eyes up at him. “I have a headache and this place is loud. You’re louder but in a good way.” She grabs the hand on her head and stares at it. “Your hand is metal?”

“Yeah…”

Naliah grabs it with both her hands, feeling around the glove. “Nice.” She drops it back onto her head. She turns onto her side and slides closer, wrapping her arms around his leg, clearly not planning to move anytime soon. “Nereids are really tactile, and I’ve been alone for two weeks. Let me have this, you said we were best friends. When’s Ahsoka supposed to get here, I wanna take a nap.”

Anakin is too busy slipping back into panic mode to respond so Obi-Wan finally steps in to rescue him. “Another thirty minutes? We’ll head to the Senate after that.”

Naliah doesn’t open her eyes, her voice heavy with sleep. “That’s enough time.” She yanks Anakin down into a half-laying position with a surprising amount of strength and accuracy for someone who is half-asleep, wraps her arms around his middle, lies her head on his stomach, throws a leg over his, curls around him, and promptly falls into deep sleep.

He glances at Obi-Wan in the chair across from him. The famed “Negotiator” is cracking up, his gaze going from Anakin to Naliah then back to Anakin, hand on his mouth trying to keep his laughter in. 

He’s never wanted a period of time to end as quickly as possible, but also never end so badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damasandra is the ancient greek word for "subduer of men" and is also equated with the moon.
> 
> *gasp* anakin is not the chosen one? you'll just have to wait & see :)


	7. Èṣù's Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Èṣù is the Yoruba god of trickery, crossroads, misfortune, chaos, death, and travelers.

**Secure Location, Separatist Space**

“You think she’ll actually come looking for us?”

Kalce looked up from fiddling with his blaster to acknowledge his second in command, Azar Lyas. “She might. She’s a child of Oya and one of Arcadie’s huntresses. Vengeance is in her nature.”

The golden-haired male gave him a look. “But…?”

Kalce sighed and stood up. “The Trident scares the shit out of her. She knows she can kill us; she can’t destroy the Trident. Naliah might see us as less of a threat and save us for later.”

Kalce fell in step with Azar and they started walking towards the front of the ship. They reached the bridge where the rest of his cadre were waiting for them. His third, a dark-haired male with green eyes named Varril Rei, motioned towards the holo-table. “Dooku wants you.”

Kalce accepted the transmission and watched as the Sith Lord came into view. He dipped his head in greeting. “Lord Dromo. You kept me waiting.”

He kept his voice neutral. “Apologies Count, the last battle took longer than expected. But you knew that. What is the purpose of this call?”

“My master would like to meet with you.” A hooded figure fizzed into view; face completely obscured. Dooku turned towards it and bowed. “Allow me to introduce you to my master Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith.”

Dromo bowed slightly. “It is an honor. I am Kalce of House Dromo, Lord of Atlantis.”

Sidious grinned. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you my boy. Your work on Destrillion was most impressive.” He rasped, voice twisted and distorted.

“Just holding up my end of our agreement.”

Sidious nodded, walking forwards. “Yes. I’ve alerted my contacts about the status of your weapon. It should not take too long to find. As for the girl you speak of, I know where she will be.”

Kalce’s eyes widened. A Huntress of Arcadie was not an easy target. The Sith Lord must have eyes everywhere. “And where will that be?”

“The Outer-Rim planet of Felucia, around two weeks from now. She’ll most likely be traveling with the 501st legion under General Anakin Skywalker. Do what you want with her and anyone who stands in your way, but do not kill Skywalker. Kill him and our agreement will be voided, and I will expose your whereabouts to the Republic. Have we reached an understanding?”

“We have. Will we be going in as an independent team or leading your forces?”

Sidious paused, growing thoughtful. “You and your men are quite capable of leading our forces.” He turned towards Dooku. “Ventress has yet to take a planet successfully. I want her to know that she is easily replaceable.”

Dooku dipped his head. “Yes, my master.”

Sidious turned to face Kalce again. “I’m looking forwards to what you achieve on Felucia.” The transmission ended.

Azar pushed off the wall he was leaning on, giving him a pointed look. “There’s no way they’ll actually give up the Trident when they find it.”

Kalce folded his arms across his chest and scoffed. “Of course they won’t. That’s why we’ll need Naliah.”

Varril snorted, looking Kalce up and down. “Do we actually need her, or do you just miss your favorite bed-warmer?”

Kalce tensed violently before grabbing his dagger and throwing it at the side of Varril’s head. It landed with a hard thunk an inch from Varril’s cheek. “Watch it.” He snarled coldly.

Varril stood up from his seat, walking towards Kalce. “Her people stole our weapon! She killed five of our men! She slaughtered your _family_. Or did you forget? You never told me exactly what was going through your head when you found them.” He started speaking faster, his voice growing louder and erratic. “Your mother was missing her heart, right? Your sisters’ throats torn out, brothers missing limbs and organs, and your father? Sorry, the mangled pile of flesh that was your father. I couldn’t tell the difference between him and a bucket of chum. She killed- “

Kalce roared and lunged at Varril, grabbing his throat and slamming him to the floor. He straddled the male. Varril reached up and drew his hands over his neck, yielding himself to Kalce. Varril spoke, tone apologetic. “That was a low blow even for me. But when you think of her you need to feel those feelings you felt when you found them. Anything else will get you killed.” He paused, his voice growing nostalgic. “I miss her too. We all do. But any loyalty she may have had to us died the day your family did.”

Kalce stood up and ran his hand through his hair. He needed to get himself together. He reluctantly held out a hand to Varril, helping him up. “You’re a bastard.”

Varril’s grin was feral. “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kalce turned to address the rest of the Death Dealers. “Let’s start going over the maps of Felucia. Azar, you’re in charge of research on this Ventress. I’ll start looking at the known Republic tactics and we’ll plan from there.”

**The Senate Building, Coruscant**

Naliah’s headache had gone away somewhat after her nap at the Temple but returned in full force on the ride to the Senate. Obi-Wan was attempting to explain the intricacies of the Republic’s government to her but for someone who didn’t even really have a well-structured central government, the whole concept was mind-boggling. On top of that, Anakin flew like a madman so it wasn’t like she could concentrate.

“Just nod your head and pretend to look interested.” Ahsoka told her when they arrived.

The Senate was huge, overwhelmingly so. She had been in the Atlantean parliament building and palace a few times, but they were nothing compared to this. They entered a large hallway with high ceilings and red walls. A petite human female standing with a few others waved them over to the other side of the room. Ahsoka bounded forwards and the female hugged her tightly. Besides her Obi-Wan chuckled and Anakin tensed, heartrate skyrocketing. Interesting.

They made it to the small group and both Jedi bowed, Ahsoka retuning to Anakin’s side. “Senators, it’s wonderful to see you.” Obi-Wan said, voice light.

The female dipped her head. “It’s good to see you all in on piece, Master Jedi.” She turned to Naliah and smiled. “You must be Naliah. I’m Senator Padme Amidala, I represent the planet of Naboo.” The other Senators introduced themselves as Senators Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Riyo Chuci, and Onaconda Farr.

Padme motioned towards the other Senators. “If we start asking questions now, it’s possible that you’ll never make it to Chancellor Palpatine. Please stop by my office after your meeting if you’re able. I don’t mean to pry but we’re all very curious about your world and your people.”

She seemed nice enough and Ahsoka clearly trusted her. The Senator also didn’t mention anything about wanting to know about the Trident or her powers so it would be a nice break from that. Naliah dipped her head and smiled slightly. “Of course, I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

Padme beamed. “Wonderful!” She turned towards the Jedi. “Master Kenobi…” Her voice tightened and became tinged with annoyance. “General Skywalker. Ahsoka are you needed, or did you want to help me with the newest bill draft?”

Anakin started to respond but Ahsoka beat him to it. “Nope!” She jumped to Padme’s side and the group started to walk off. “Just pick me up when you’re done Master!”

Anakin cursed in what she guessed was his native tongue. “Well come on then.” He remarked flatly.

They made towards the turbo-lift and stepped in. Naliah took this opportunity to confirm a hunch she had. “So, what happened between you and Senator Amidala?” Anakin seemed to choke on air and Obi-Wan sputtered out a barley contained laugh. The turbo lift stopped, and they stepped out. “Well?”

Anakin cleared his throat before replying. “Nothing happened between me and Senator Amidala.”

Naliah scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Right and I’m human. You know I can tell when you’re lying right?”

Obi-Wan turned away from them holding a hand over his mouth, desperately trying not to laugh. Anakin sighed and drew a hand over his face. “You’re relentless.”

Naliah’s grin turned feral. “I’m a Huntress. I have to be.”

Anakin glanced towards Obi-Wan, his expression pleading. Obi-Wan pointedly ignored him in response. “We used to date. It was a bad idea. The end.”

_Success!_

“Why was it a bad idea?”

Anakin stopped walking. “Seriously Liah?” Anakin froze, his fear leaking into the room. “I mean Naliah. Unless you don’t mind Liah, I’m sorry- “

Naliah giggled, eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’ll let it slide this time.” Her voice grew sultry and she flashed her fangs, standing in front of Anakin and laying a hand on his chest. “But call me that again and I’ll have your heart in my hands.”

_SCARED-SCARED-SCARED-_

She laughed again this time much louder. “You’re way too easy to mess with. Like injured prey. You can call me Liah.” She glanced around. “Where’s the Chancellor’s office?”

Obi-Wan, who was currently snickering and messing with his commlink, looked up and immediately sobered. “Oh. Right. This way.”

Naliah did _not_ like Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin was clearly smitten with the man and Obi-Wan had gone back to the whole emotionless Jedi façade. She didn’t like his Vice Chair, Mas Amedda, either. She couldn’t tell exactly why but if her instincts screamed _threat-threat-threat_ then she wasn’t going to ignore them.

They went through the whole spiel she went through with the Jedi Council and they brought up the issue of the Republic assisting with the search for the Trident. “I understand why you don’t want us getting involved, but you must understand that the Atlanteans attacking a Republic planet makes it a Republic matter.” Palpatine said, voice borderline patronizing.

Did he take her for an idiot? He’s definitely moving up her shit list. Naliah kept her voice calm, hands facing palms down in her lap. “I do understand. But if the Trident ends up in the wrong hands, the ten-year war my people fought would be for nothing.” She paused, gears turning. “The Republic can have the Atlanteans. Just let me go after the Trident alone.”

Amedda turned towards her, voice accusatory. “And when you find this Trident, how should we trust you not to use it against us?”

Naliah narrowed her eyes. “If I planned on doing that, I would have killed your forces on Ando and brought the Jedi’s heads to the Separatists. Not fought alongside them _against_ the CIS.”

Amedda scowled, scooting backwards. “Savage beast! And you call yourself civilized.” 

_Says the guy with fucking horns!_

Naliah let out a rapid series of clicks that ended in a high whistle that meant something _very_ rude and uncrossed her legs, posture growing threatening.

Obi-Wan wisely chose that moment to step in. “If we could please spare the insults, I’m sure a favorable option where both parties will each have a suitable level of involvement will present itself.” Anakin came behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her back into seat. Naliah watched as Palpatine eyed the interaction, something dangerous flashing in his eyes. His expression smoothed over and he spoke up. “If I may…”

_He cannot be human. There’s no way._

“…I think I’ve come up with a solution to our problem. The Trident is a threat to the whole galaxy, that we know. It is imperative that we devote all our available resources into finding it, but we know next to nothing about it or the Atlanteans that are also pursuing it as well.” He looked at Naliah. “But you, my dear, know everything we need to know. I propose that we take you on as an official military consultant.” He glanced back around the room. “That way if our forces locate the Trident and she is not there, she’ll have the means and motive to travel to its location undeterred. Your advice also proved invaluable on Ando and from what I can tell from the reports, you fought well with the clones and Jedi alike. You’ll also be able to track down the Atlanteans that are serving as Count Dooku’s Generals.”

_That feels so oddly convenient for something you “just thought of” land-walker._

Obi-Wan put his hand on his chin, rubbing his beard. “I suppose that will work. I’m sure the Jedi Council will see it as the best option as well.”

Anakin looked down at Naliah. “Your call Liah.”

She looked down at her hands.

_Gods what would Kai do? There’s no way she would just agree, there has to be some sort of catch here. It looks like my only option though. Am I really going to throw myself into another war? One I have no business fighting?_

Kalce and his dogs were slaughtering life-forms. This was her business.

Naliah nodded. “I want unrestricted movement. If I don’t want to be somewhere, I don’t go. I’m not one of your soldiers. When I manage to get in contact with my planet, my sisters will be granted the same status and we’ll be allowed to bring some of our kind to assist independently.” She locked eyes with Palpatine. “I don’t have to bring in the Atlanteans alive. If they survive then you can do what you want with them.”

Palpatine smiled and held out a hand. She took it and grasped it firmly. “Welcome to the Grand Army of the Republic, Naliah, Aimera of Nereids.”

Long after Anakin finished his private meeting and they started making their way to Senator Amidala’s office, Naliah still would take moments to stare at her hand.

It felt like she had shaken hands with Èṣù himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was short as hell but I wanted to get it out bc it just seemed weird to add more. we'll be back to our regularly scheduled length next chapter! kalce and naliah's relationship can be summed up in the song "hopeless" by always never if you wanna get an idea of what's to come/already happened. i also created a playlist on spotify for naliah in general so if you wanna take a listen, comment down below and i'll drop the link! 
> 
> also we're finally getting into cannon material! it only took 7 chapters lmao


	8. Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: body horror and torture

Naliah spent the next two weeks on Coruscant settling in and prepping for new position. Unfortunately for Anakin, Naliah and Padmé got along swimmingly, and the Naboo Senator would often take her and Ahsoka shopping during her free time, claiming that if they ever wanted fashionable civilian clothes they would need to get them with her. Naliah was glad to call her a friend. 

Anakin also took the time to teach her how to drive a speeder and introduce the concepts of flying starships, while Obi-Wan and Ahsoka taught her how to read and write Auberesh. Naliah was a quick learner when she wanted to be, mostly because the nature of her language required her to memorize and recognize thousands of sonic patterns, so the concepts came easily to her. 

The peace didn’t last forever though, and the 501st and 212th were deployed to Felucia. Naliah wasn’t planning on going to the jungle planet, not seeing the point of her being there until Republic Intelligence had reported that the Atlanteans were leading the campaign. Thus, Naliah was forced back into the cramped confines of her quarters on the _Resolute,_ hurtling through hyperspace to face off against Separatist droids once again. She sat on her bed, gazing at a holo that was stored on her cowrie shells. She smiled as the memory came back to her.

The Huntresses had been in the area to liberate an Atlantean death camp. They had completed the mission and transferred the Nereids to a way-point in the Southern Ocean when Jaiyanna had brought up the fact that it was the prime season to see the Southern Lights. Stargazing was dear to all the sisters; their tribe used to take them stargazing before the Water Wars broke out. The space of Oshun that led to the younger half of the pack's birth-waters, Tierra del Fuego, was secure and with a bit of pleading, they managed to get all the pack together for a night before having to go separate ways again.

A bang startled Naliah out of her thoughts and she hissed, looking up to find that Anakin had burst into the room. She hadn’t had time to turn of the holo, which Anakin immediately took notice of. “Are those your sisters?” He asked, his gaze curious.

Her homesickness decided that it was going to hit in full force right at that moment. “Yep.” Her throat was burning with unshed tears. “That’s my pack.”

Anakin stepped in and sat down next to her. “You all look very close.”

She chuckled, still staring at the photo. “I think the peace lasted for about ten minutes after this photo was taken. Noelani had to pull Jaiyanna off Melissende over the last piece of meat because the triplets decided that they wanted to see a fight. But yeah, we’re really close. In Oshun you have to be. You can’t afford to be fighting all the time with your pack-mates, it will get you killed.”

“So who’s who?”

Naliah pointed out each of her sisters from eldest to youngest in the group. Kaimara and Noelani were the tall, dark-skinned twins with green eyes and long curly black hair occupying the middle of the photo. Even through the photo, the twins radiated a commanding energy that was expected from the first and second Aimeras of Nereids. On the right of Kaimara was Indra. Technically the second eldest, Indra was a blue-eyed version of the twins with waist-length dark blue dreadlocks. Ravenna had her back pressed against Indra, gazing at the camera with a fierce grin. Her skin color was the same shade as Naliah’s, but the water-song caster boasted the signature gold eyes and gold highlights in her black hair most Wúrà Nereids had.

Melissende stood on the other side of Noelani, her chin atop Noelani’s shoulder. Melissende’s skin color was a rich coca which contrasted greatly against her light eyes and highlighted blood red hair. Arcadie was next and arguably the most striking of the sisters. The leader of the Huntresses with moon-white curls and gold eyes, she was the embodiment of the Siren legends humans were warned of as children. Shabina was crouched at Ravenna’s feet, a purple-eyed near carbon copy of Ravenna. The fraternal healer triplets, Marella, Anita, and Brielle, stood next to Ravenna hugging each other tightly. All had varying shades of blonde hair with blue-gold eyes and bronze skin; Anita being slightly taller than the other two. Jaiyanna, Zarya, and Naliah rounded out the photo on Kaimara’s side. Jaiyanna looked the most like Naliah except she had the gold highlighted hair Naliah lacked. Zarya had the lightest skin of the bunch, with brown hair and dark eyes. Despite their varying physical features, all had the signature gold scaling that marked them as daughters of Kiara.

“It was the first time we had all been together in months. We had been spread thin across Oshun. Kaimara and Noelani were generals on the front lines, the triplets are healers that were in charge of way-points, Shabina and Ravenna would jump between the Huntresses and Intelligence. The rest of us were Huntresses full time. We watched the Southern Lights and sang together before swimming out in the morning.” Naliah finished, her voice taking on a wistful tone. 

Anakin grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You’ll get back to them. I’m sure of it.”   
  


Naliah looked up at Anakin and smiled, radiating her appreciativeness through her power, suddenly aware of how close they were.

_His eyes are pretty. Wait… what?_

Anakin’s comm crackled to life, startling Naliah out of… whatever thought process _that_ was. Ahsoka’s voice rang clear through the comm. “Hey Skyguy, you coming down here or can I take your portion?” Naliah heard Rex and a few other clones snicker faintly in the background.

Anakin rolled his eyes, huffing out a breath. “Yeah Snips, we’re on our way.” Naliah stood up and fell into step with Anakin, still chuckling at Ahsoka’s antics. “Come on, this will probably be our last semi-decent meal for a while.” 

(It was in fact, the last decent meal she had for a while)

Felucia started off well. They landed on the planet’s surface without facing any resistance from Separatist forces and made an easy rendezvous with the 212th. That was about the only thing that went to plan.

Their first target was a droid foundry buried deep in the heart of the Felucian jungle. Immediately they ran into a problem. The brush was too thick for the turbo tanks and it was too time consuming to cut down miles of trees, so they were forced to leave the tanks under the guard of a few clones that stayed behind. The AT-TE walkers were able to maneuver their way through the dense trees, so they still had some heavier artillery available.

Naliah walked near the front, echolocation not as strong as it was in the water but still light years better than anything the Republic was equipped with on the ground. She projected the sound waves directly forwards, happy to find that there were nothing but trees and small animals were ahead of them. It went on like that for a few miles until something that was not natural reverberated back on the edge of her range. She sent out powerful bursts of sound to double check, but whatever it was had disappeared.

_Nothing just disappears like that. Not unless… oh shit._

She looked up and sent a wave of sound into the trees.

_droid-droid-droid-droid_

Ice ran through her veins as she heard the whine of multiple blasters engage.

_“AMBUSH!”_

The droids dropped from the trees and surrounded them. 

The jungle was in utter chaos. Ahsoka barely had time to engage her lightsaber before she immediately had to start slicing into droids above her. She whirled, flipping over debris and landing at Anakin’s back, slipping into Soresu to fend off blaster bolts. There was a huge boom and she looked over to find that Naliah had taken out a wave of droids with her lightning. The Nereid vaulted herself onto the top of a non-functioning AT-TE, slicing through whatever droids she could reach in the process. Ahsoka growled, and attempted to gain some ground, hacking her way forwards. There wasn’t anywhere for them or the clones to go, the droids had dropped into their ranks, splitting the group from the walkers where the other clones and Naliah were.

Master Kenobi force-pushed a few droids into the trees and made towards Ahsoka. “We need to push back towards the walkers and regroup! Everyone on me!” The group circled up and began the run towards the AT-TEs, the others at the walkers covering them. Naliah was still on top of the downed AT-TE, hurling bolts of lightning with a practiced ease at the droids surrounding them. She was the best source of cover fire up until the commando droids dropped on her platform and she was forced to start battling them.

_I’ve gotta ask Naliah if she can teach me that spin-kick she just did._

Another wave of battle-droids intercepted them the moment Naliah’s focus was off of the Jedi and progress stalled, the separated group tantalizing close to the safety of the walkers. The droids seemed to concentrate their numbers on them, and more commando droids appeared from the trees, cutting their way through the clones. Ahsoka was focusing on the droids trying to sneak their way through the rear of the group when she heard a shout. She turned to find that the commando droids were dragging an unconscious Rex into the undergrowth. Cody was on the ground, dazed and struggling to get back on his feet. She sprinted forwards, using the Force to drag Cody to the cover of a fallen log, and followed the droids into the jungle. She vaguely heard Cody yell for her to not go alone, but she was not going to let Rex get captured.

The noise of the battle grew faint as she ran through the forest, and she felt a glimmer in the Force that had to be Rex. She burst into a clearing and found Rex slumped against a tree, helmet off and blood pouring profusely out of a wound on his head. Concern ran through her as she crouched down to get a closer look at him. “Rex!” She fumbled for a med-kit at her belt, ripping open its contents and started the process of tending to the wound. “Can you hear me? Where are the droids?”

Rex’s eyes fluttered open and fixed on something behind her. “Commander, it’s a trap go!”

Ahsoka rolled to the side, barley avoiding something coming down on top of her and ignited her lightsaber, spinning around to face her enemy. She raised her lightsaber to block another blow, locking out in a t-position. She dropped her weight and slid out from underneath it, striking them with a force-enhanced kick that pushed them to the edge of the clearing, and quickly put herself between them and Rex. Her attacker slowly got to their feet, chuckling lowly and turned to face her. Ahsoka fought to keep her fear in check and her expression neutral. Kalce Dromo was standing in front of her, silver trident in hand.

The Atlantean pointed at her with his trident, smirking as he did. “I see Naliah has already made her mark.” He twirled the electrified weapon and took a step forward. “That was her move.”

Ahsoka stayed slightly crouched, staring down the Atlantean. “What can I say, I always jump at the opportunity to learn new ways to kick a child murder’s ass.”

Dromo laughed at that, clearly sizing the Torgruta up. “You talk like her too. She’s only been here, what almost three months?” Ahsoka must’ve not been hiding her unease well enough because Dromo picked up on it. He pointed at his trident. “Don’t worry this isn’t Atalan’s Trident. And if you cooperate, I won’t kill your Captain either.”

Ahsoka let out an animalistic growl. “I would gut you first _sleemo_.”

Dromo raised his eyebrows, a pleased look making its way onto his face. “Oh, you’ve taken after her plenty.” He grinned, the look downright predatory. “You two must be close then. Good. She’ll come looking for you. Now drop your lightsaber, put these binders on, and come with me.”

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think so.”

Dromo glared at her. “Azar!” There was rustling and four other males stepped out of trees, two holding tridents, two holding blasters. Dromo motioned towards Rex. “I’ve been _quite_ nice so far. Unless you want to watch him die a horrible, gruesome death, I suggest you do as I say.”

Rex stared at her, eyes pleading. “Kid don’t, its not worth it.”

Ahsoka bowed her head, utter hopelessness threatening to spill over her shields. “I’m not going to let you die Rex.” She dropped her lightsaber and held out hands.

Dromo smiled and tossed the binders towards her. She put them on, feeling the Force vanish from her as she did, and stepped towards Dromo. The last thing she heard were Rex’s cries of horror as Dromo reared his trident back and slammed it against her head. The world went black.

Naliah ducked and spun into a full 360, slicing her two blades through the commando droids’ legs and torso. She crowded the other droid’s striking range, stepping forward and blocking its blade with one sword and stabbing it through it’s middle with another. She pushed the bodies off with a blast of wind and turned around to see that the droids were retreating. She focused her power on a larger squadron and pushed, the air pressure becoming immense and they crushed under the weight of it. The clones and the Jedi were still fighting so she dropped down from the AT-TE and joined the fray. “We chasing them all the way to the factory?” She yelled over the sound of blaster fire.

Anakin nodded. “When the tinnies are on the run, you don’t let up!”

Obi-Wan glanced around. “We should re-group and come up with a proper plan! We’ve lost the element of surprise.”

Naliah waited to hear Ahsoka’s inevitable inquiry but it never came. She turned and found that the Torguta was no where to be found. Neither were Rex and Cody. “Guys, Ahsoka, Rex and Cody aren’t here.” Both Jedi turned, scanning behind them and came to the same conclusion, the scent of their fear leaking into the Felucian jungle. They halted the attack and allowed the men to regroup and take a breather. Anakin and Obi-Wan took a squad to assist in their search while Naliah found Domino squad and went a different direction. She cast out her senses, feeling out a lone clone that was positioned near a fallen log a several hundred meters back. It turned out to be Cody, bleeding heavily from a wound in his left shoulder and leg. He was half-conscious, tone angry and apologetic. “I shhhould’ve gone afer’ em’.” The clone commander slurred out.

Naliah assured Cody that it was not his fault and took Fives, Echo, and Hevy with her in the direction Cody said Ahsoka and Rex had gone, leaving Droidbait and Cutup to get Cody back to the medics. She commed Anakin, telling him their position and entered a clearing. They found a very pale and unconscious Rex slumped against a tree. The clones rushed forwards and began to treat his injuries as Naliah sniffed the air. Horror wracked its way through her body as the scent came back to her.

Kalce was here.

A silver object on the ground caught her eye and she went to investigate, finding it to be Ahsoka’s lightsaber. Horror turned into white-hot fury and Naliah fought to keep herself from lashing out. Luckily, Rex regaining consciousness distracted her from her growing rage. He blinked slowly before leaping to his feet, a wild look in his eyes. “They took her. They took the Commander. We need to find her, she let them take her because of me- “

Fives grabbed the blonde by the shoulders, him and Hevy guiding Rex back down into a sitting position. “Easy Captain, we’ll find her.” Echo returned to fixing a bacta patch onto Rex’s head, his movements slow to not startle him.

Rex looked up at Naliah. “It was them wasn’t it?”

She swallowed and nodded. She was going to _gut_ Kalce.

They made it back to the main forces and Rex recounted the events of what happened. “Why would they keep me alive after they took Commander Tano? I’m a witness, it makes no sense.”

Naliah took a deep breath, still fighting all her instincts screaming at her to turn tail and go straight after Ahsoka. “That’s the exact reason you’re still alive. He wants to make sure that I know it was them.”

Anakin was staring at Ahsoka’s lightsaber, face dark and radiating fury. “Enough talk. The foundry is the nearest Separatist stronghold. They took her there. Let’s go get her.”

Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin’s arm, voice calm. “Easy now, there’s no definite proof that Ahsoka is there. We could be wasting time going there instead of another location.” Obi-Wan turned to face Naliah. “What would Dromo gain from you by taking Ahsoka?”

She flexed her hands, willing her human side to stay in control. “He’s probably thinking I’ll split and go after her alone. Last time I did that I ended up half-dead on another planet.” She remarked flatly. “She probably isn’t at the foundry. Kalce’s trying to get to me. He’s gonna try and force me into burnout before he even thinks about revealing Ahsoka’s location.”

“Which means?”

She ran her fingers through her braids, yanking at her scalp. “He likes to play games. We aren’t going to get her back for a while.”

Anakin’s head snapped up and slammed his hand into the side of the walker they were crowed around, his anger palpable to her senses. “You’re saying that we should just give up on her? Just like that?”

Naliah bit back a snarl, calling on Yemoja to give her the _fucking strength_ not to start yelling. “I’m saying that we should continue the campaign as planned. He wants us to split and start going on a herring chase. We start sending out teams to find Ahsoka and we’ll be playing right into his hands. He’s going to try and tear us apart.”

Obi-Wan sighed, his voice weary. “We'll rest up here for a few more hours and then we’ll move in on the foundry. Perhaps Ahsoka will be there.”

Ahsoka wasn’t at the foundry. Or the next one after that. They went through three weeks of solid combat, destroying outposts, droid factories, landing strips, and Ahsoka wasn’t at any of the locations. Kalce had been leaving “gifts” at the locations though. Bodies of local farmers nailed to the walls, hearts methodically placed in the middle of the floors, and heads stacked into pyramids at the entrances.

Feluica’s climate contributed greatly to their hellish environment as well. Blisteringly hot and humid, the jungle planet’s soft surface would often turn into a muddy ooze with a few inches of rain, bringing the progress of their forces to a near stand-still. Morale was low, and they were fighting more than physical enemies. Apparently, the planet’s insects carried a strain of rapidly mutating malaria that even the clone’s strengthened genetically engineered immune systems couldn’t fight off. They were losing.

Naliah had pretty much taken over Ahsoka’s duties as Commander for the time being, the clones even calling her such. It made her sick to her stomach every time they did. Her and Anakin had taken a platoon from Torrent Company to attack a small listening outpost out of the way the rest of the forces were heading. The outpost supposedly contained information on other more valuable targets so once they breached the defensive lines, they made their way the data center and a clone hacker, called Ringo, started the process of breaking into the mainframe. Naliah was exhausted, she hadn’t been in Oshun in months and it was taking its toll on her but, she kept an ear out for any droid reinforcements coming their way.

She saw Fives move over to another table and lift a small cloth off of the table. The sweet smell of blood hit her nostrils, and she saw Fives retch. “Oh, stars no. It can’t be.”

Echo glanced over at Fives, voice concerned. “Fives, what is it?”

The clone had backed away from the table and ripped his helmet off. He crouched on the ground, head in his hands, taking deep shuddering breaths.

Naliah made her way over, slowing to a halt once her brain recognized who’s scent that was. She took careful steps forward and peered down at the table. Her breath quickened and she felt tears prickle in the back of her eyes. There on the table lied a commlink and next to it, a small orange finger. Anakin came beside her and pointed with a shaky hand; his voice unstable “Is that…”

She didn’t look up as she nodded her head yes.

_ANGER-ANGER-FEAR-FEAR_

The comm started beeping, glowing red. She picked it up slowly, accepting the transmission. Kalce’s smug voice crackled through. _“I see you’ve found my present.”_

She didn’t bother playing nice, making an inhuman noise that caused the clones to jump. “Where the fuck is she Kalce?”

He laughed. _“You aren’t even going to ask if she’s still alive?”_

Anakin went to say something, but she stopped him, knowing that out of the two of them she’s probably more levelheaded right now. Maybe. “I know you better than that. You won’t kill her until you can do it in front of me.”

_“I almost forgot how clever you are Damasandra. We’re at the hanger 15 klicks north of your position. I trust you’ll be able to find it. Come alone and try to hurry. She’s been quite the infuriating charge and, well, I may settle for killing her over the comm. Right Ahsoka?”_ There was the sound of electricity charging and screaming. The transmission ended.

The ground started shaking beneath them and several items began to float. Naliah looked over and saw Anakin breathing heavily, desperately trying to rein in his power.

_“Anakin.”_

He snapped out of his trance and the shaking stopped, items dropping back onto the ground. “Ringo, you have the information? We need to get going.”

Ringo snapped to his feet. “Sir, yes sir!”

Naliah grabbed his arm as he went to the exit. “I’m sorry, you’re going where?” Her voice incredulous. 

He yanked his arm out of out of her grip, whirling on her. “We’re going to get my padawan, _Damasandra_ , unless you don’t want to?” His voice grew darker. “Perhaps the Chancellor was right about your allegiances after all.”

Naliah roared and shoved Anakin into the closed doorway, frame shaking under the force of it. “Do not _ever_ call me that.” She hissed out. “And do not _ever_ suggest I would be ever be allied with those _monsters_. If I don’t show up alone, Kalce will kill Ahsoka. Unless _you_ want to be responsible for her death, then I suggest you don’t go with me.”

The ground began to shake again as Anakin spoke. “You’re _ordering_ me to stay here and sit on my ass while you go out and rescue _my_ padawan alone?”

Naliah took a breath. Yelling wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “I’m _asking_ you to circle back and get more men than just a platoon and then head my way. By the time you get there, they’ll be too distracted to notice.”

The earth calmed again, and Anakin nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Naliah walked towards the exit before pausing and turning back around. “If I’m not there when you arrive, run. Don’t pause to think about it, don’t have a debate, just go.”

She left before any of them could conjure up a response to her words.


	9. Child of the Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: torture, body horror 
> 
> i wrote this chap instead of doing ap calc. you're welcome.

She had a sick sense of déjà vu when she arrived at the two-story warehouse. Her and Kalce had played this game before. She blew down the doors with a powerful air blast, striding through purposefully. There were twelve bodies in the warehouse; seven Atlanteans, four commando droids, and one very traumatized Togruta she had failed. She stopped in the near the middle of the floor, feeling nauseous as she took in the sight in front of her. There was Ahsoka, positioned in a chair bound, bloodied, bruised, and missing an index finger on her left hand. The Jedi slowly lifted her head, clearly struggling to stay conscious. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. “Liah no…you shouldn’t’ve come…I’m so sorry.”  
  


Naliah started to sprint towards her. “Ahsoka!”

A familiar voice halted her in her tracks. “That’s close enough _Damasandra._ ” Kalce stepped out of the shadows along with Azar and Varril. Xebel, Adir, Enzo, and Jian were on the second-floor balcony with the droids.

She glanced around the room. “Hi boys.”

Kalce walked forwards and put his hands on Ahsoka’s shoulders. The Torgruta flinched violently. “Liah? I thought you hated being called that.”

She flashed him a condescending smile. “I hate it when _you_ call me that. Cut the shit Kalce, what do you want?”

Varril snorted from his corner, snark oozing from his voice. “Isn’t it obvious _mikrí aderfí?_ We want you to come with us.” He stalked forwards coming to a stop a few feet behind Kalce. “Actually, we want revenge. But afterwards you’re coming with us.”

At his words, the commando droids jumped down and hauled Ahsoka to her feet, dragging her to the side of the room. Kalce grabbed his trident from its sheath on his back, twirling it in a lazy circle. “You’re an extraordinary warrior _Damasandra._ But you had to run from us before.” He came within a few feet of Naliah. “You can’t beat all of us.”

She vaguely registered the incoming droid army at the edge of her senses several klicks away. But the 501st and 212th were on their way too. She needed to buy them some more time.

She smirked. “Do you remember what the Atlanteans used to think of me? They thought I was nothing. An eleven-year-old broken camp survivor forced to wade into a war behind her sisters. Unclaimed and untested.”

She walked forwards, getting into Kalce’s space. “Then Arcadie pointed me in the direction of one of those horrible camps and told me to let go. And what happened? I turned out to be one of the fiercest manifestations of Oya Oshun had ever seen, gifted to wield sky-fire with such an unnatural ease, even _your father_ was terrified of my power.”

She let out a short, harsh laugh. “The Atlanteans that survived bowed at my flukes that day. I guess you forgot why.” Her voice became sickly sweet. “My mother-goddess has quite the reputation for being vengeful and destructive when her family has been threatened.”

The light coming in from the skylight above them died, replaced by black clouds bubbling with fury. The wind howled and began to shake the building, thunderclaps becoming louder and faster. Sky-fire crackled along her fingertips and her voice turned dark and distorted. “Traits she happened to pass on to me. And I’m _really_ pissed off.”

Kalce roared, signaling the males to rush forwards, but Naliah flipped backwards and jumped up, on hand pointed towards the sky and another outstretched. Sky-fire crashed through the roof, striking the advancing males and droids guarding Ahsoka. The males were sent flying back, the smell of burnt flesh permeating the room, while the droids exploded on impact. Naliah landed and sprinted to Ahsoka, using her sword to cut off her binders. “Can you walk? They won’t be out for long.”

Ahsoka stood up, and nodded weakly, astonishment clear on her face. “They’ll be up soon? That was the biggest lightning bolt I’ve ever seen.” She threw an arm around Naliah’s shoulders and they hobble-ran towards the door.

“I know, its complete orcashit.” They made it outside and her heart sunk. They were surrounded. There was commotion behind them and Naliah turned. The Atlanteans were back up. However, the sight of the severe burn marks she could see on their bodies filled her with sick satisfaction. _Good._

Kalce snarled. “I have an army Naliah. Even you can’t take them on alone.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t notice.”

Ahsoka sighed, leaning heavily into her side. “He really likes to state the obvious huh.”

Naliah snorted. The kid is really living up to her nickname. “That he does. You wanna know something not-so-obvious? I brought an army too.”

The males all had equal looks of confusion on their faces right until the first shots from the clones rang out.

What dumbasses.

She picked Ahsoka up and sprinted for cover, looking for a safe place to put her until the battle ended. She had no idea where Kix was and if she was being honest, in a deadass panic, so she fell back on her instincts and ended up hiding Ahsoka in the hollow of a rotted-out tree. “I’m not leaving, you’re gonna lose it soon I can feel it.”

Ahsoka glared at her with as much force as she could muster up. “If you don’t go out there and help them, the Atlanteans will be the least of your worries. I’m ok here.”

Naliah huffed before leaning down and giving her a gentle hug. “I’ll send some people this way. Promise.” She gave Ahsoka one of her swords. “Hopefully, you won’t need to use it.”

Ahsoka studied the blade for a quick moment. “Is it bad that I kind of want to?”

She shrugged. “From a Jedi’s point of view? Probably. From anyone else’s? No, not at all.” There was a huge explosion from behind them. Right. They’ve still got to fend the droids off. She glanced back down at Ahsoka. “You sure you don’t want me to stay?”

The Togruta smiled softly back. “They need you more than I do. Now _go_.”

Naliah turned on her heel and shot off at a supernatural speed. She had to get back to her day job. Slaughtering psychopathic Atlanteans.

It didn’t take long to slice her way back up to the front lines. She came up behind a turbo tank and nimbly leapt to the top of it, creating a sky-fire shield to protect her from incoming blaster bolts, surveying the battlefield.

_Come on boys, where are you?_

There. She pointed out the distinct sound of electrified metal clashing against a lightsaber and found Obi-Wan and Anakin were battling all seven fucking Atlanteans. They were doing well, but the Jedi were tiring.

_Oh Yemoja, help me._

She blasted a wave of sky-fire at the droids below her, taking out a good number of their ranks. She jumped down and sprinted across the clearing, coming to a stop a few meters behind the dueling males. Naliah let out a piercing roar, her power bleeding out and causing the sky to flash a blinding white.

Kalce paused and backed off, the males putting distance between themselves and the Jedi. “There she is.” He purred out. “I was wondering if you had fled again.”

In an extreme display of maturity, she managed to hold her tongue and opened a mental bridge with the Jedi. She flashed them the image of where Ahsoka was. _“Go get her, I can handle them.”_

Obi-Wan and Anakin shared a look that must’ve lasted a millisecond before Anakin extinguished his two sabers and started heading back to the tree line. He paused and handed her Ahsoka’s saber. _“You might need this.”_ He sprinted off, leaving her and Obi-Wan with the Atlanteans.

She ignited the saber and flicked out her sword, spinning both weapons as she stepped up to Obi-Wan. “Which ones do you want?”

He reignited his saber and slid into a Soresu salute. “The two brunettes were saying some rather inappropriate things about Ahsoka.”

Naliah hissed and bared her fangs, dropping into a fighting stance. “Adir and Enzo? Go for it.”

The males charged and Naliah became a whirlwind of death.

The only time Anakin has been this scared was right before his mother died. He uses the Force to enhance his speed as much as he can, bisecting the droids that were in his way in a single swipe. The bond he has with Ahsoka gets brighter as he gets closer and he can feel her presence for the first time in weeks. He gets to the tree where Ahsoka should be, but he can’t see her.

_No, no, no! She must be here!_

He can’t panic now. He takes a steading breath and reaches out in the Force and finds that Naliah buried her deep within the hollowed-out roots. He alerts Kix to his position and drops down, digging up the grass that had been placed over the hollow and calling out her name. “Ahsoka!” He finally removes all the grass and he nearly loses his sanity at the sight before him.

Ahsoka was pressed against the wall of the roots and holding out Naliah’s sword in a defensive position, shaking violently. One of her eyes was swollen shut, her lekku nearly black because of the bruising on them. In fact, there probably was not a part of her body that was unblemished. There were open lacerations all over her body, mostly concentrated around her feet, and she was missing a finger on her left hand. The ground started to shake again. _Damn it, Anakin keep it together, do it for Snips._ He held out his hands. “Snips? It’s me. You’re safe now.”

Ahsoka finally seemed to snap back into reality. “Anakin?”

He was vaguely aware of the tears that were running down his face, his emotions all over the place. Unbridled fury at the Atlanteans, joyous relief for finding Ahsoka alive, and copious amounts of fear for the clones, Obi-Wan, and Naliah who were still out in the clearing battling the droids. “Yeah ‘Soka, its me. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

The Torguta sheathed the blade and grabbed onto his arms. Anakin lifted her up as gently as he could and held her in his arms. She weighed practically nothing now. Ahsoka stared at him for a moment before bursting into horrible sobs, her pain radiating through the Force. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck. Anakin embraced her as tightly as he dared, breathing in her scent. _“You’re safe. You’re safe. You’re safe.”_ He couldn’t tell if he was comforting her or himself at this point.

Kix and a few men crashed through the trees a few seconds later. “Dear Force.” He whispered at Ahsoka’s condition. “Sir, we can take it from here. You need to get back out there.”

He didn’t want to. The last person he found like this ended up dying in his arms. But Ahsoka was a better Jedi than he could ever be. “Go Master.” She gave him a watery smile. “Kix will fix me up.”

He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her montrals, holding on to her for a few more moments before gingerly depositing her into Kix’s arms. He sprinted back out towards the tree line, the ground becoming even more unstable. He was losing control. The Force was singing, practically begging for him to let go and use his power, the power he was _born_ from. The last time he did, he had murdered an entire village. The closer he got to the battle ground though, the less he seemed to care.

He’s spent twenty-five years holding back. He finally decided that for once, he was going to let go completely.

Naliah dodged a glancing blow from Varril and parried another from Kalce. She had no idea where Obi-Wan was, the males had split them apart as quickly as they could. She was forced back, defending against strikes from the males and dodging blaster fire from the droids. She finally managed to put some distance between them and herself and brought down a gigantic bolt of sky-fire. The force of it created a trench in the ground and set the area around it ablaze. She let the flames grow higher, and the males resembled impatient sharks, pacing on the other side of them. She was exhausted and bleeding, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being played.

_Kalce is a lot of things but a bad strategist isn’t one of them. Why would he risk a good portion of his army over two creatures?_

Her eyes widened, and she hissed menacingly at the males, putting the dots together. “You’re stalling.”

Kalce grinned, the orange flames of the fire playing beautifully of off his features. Seventeen-year old her was an idiot, but she had good taste. “It took you long enough, _Damasandra._ There’s a Separatist blockade that should be arriving right about now.”

Sure enough, the distinctive scream of airships became present, and vulture droids dove down onto the field, beginning their attacks. Several explosions occurred and she heard dozens of identical screams of agony. Enraged once more, she took the opportunity to go back on the offensive, hurling the fire at the males and throwing everything she had at them. She paused briefly to send out an open comm about the blockade, and Obi-Wan ordered an immediate retreat from the planet, saying that the 104th were on their way to provide air support. She turned to advance again but was halted in her tracks when she felt pure _power_ assault her senses.

_WRATH-WRATH-WRATH-WRATH_

The dark sky suddenly became a blinding blue. The Separatist airships making their way to the surface stretched and blurred before being ripped apart and sucked back up into the upper atmosphere. The wind whipped even harder, forcing the droids and their tanks up into the sky into whatever that thing was. It felt like the entire _planet_ was going to suffer the same fate. The clones began racing to the trees for cover and Kalce locked eyes with something behind her, clearly afraid. She looked back and saw it was _Anakin._

The Jedi was cosmic. Eyes a burning blue, the earth seemed to tremble even harder with every step he took. It hurt to look at him. He seemed to be phasing in and out of this plane of reality. Human one moment, a giant dragon the next, a creature of too many teeth and with six wings of fire after that. She wondered if this is what Aimera looked like to the Nereids all those millennia ago.

The Atlanteans turned to run but Anakin held out a hand and they froze. He tilted his hand up slightly and the males went flying up into the air. He flicked his eyes to the side and their weapons soared out of their hands, clattering on the ground.

**_“You hurt her.”_ **

The males screamed in pain. Naliah dropped to the ground stunned, and covered her ears. His voice seemed to come from all around them and inside their minds. It was _devastating_.

**_“Are you in pain? Do you wish for it to stop? So did she. Now bleed.”_ **

****

There was the sound of flesh tearing apart and several cuts appeared on the Atlanteans’ bodies, blood pouring from their eyes, noses, and ears. Naliah looked around and saw that the surrounding jungle had been stripped bare. Flora, fauna, even huge chunks of earth had been sucked into the blue vortex Anakin was causing. It was getting closer to the surface. If he couldn’t stop it, there wouldn’t be a planet left to evacuate.

“Anakin!”

**_“Go Naliah.”_ **

****

The force of his voice sent her flying backwards and she felt blood from her ears run down her hands. How in Yemoja’s name is she going to be able to stop him? An idea struck her. It was risky, but if she didn’t try, they were all dead. She didn’t have the time to hypnotize Anakin into lowering his mental shields, so she was going to bulldoze her way in. Hopefully, she won’t kill him or herself in the process.

_Oya help me._

On that note, she reached deep within her and threw out an immense wave of lightning. Anakin stopped it without even looking. But it didn’t matter, his power was connected to hers; she could get inside his head. She sent her mind across her lighting and _pushed,_ tearing her way through his shields with all her might and finally, the scenery changed.

She wasn’t on Felucia anymore. She was in the middle of a desert village, bodies of otherworldly creatures littered around her. Some were crushed, others had their necks snapped, but most had the signature burns caused by a lightsaber. She looked up and made towards a hut that had a hole cut into its side. She stepped in and found Anakin with a dead human female in his arms.

He didn’t look up at her. “How’d you get in here?” There was no emotion in his voice.

“I have my ways.” She slowly stepped closer. “Who was she?”

Tears started running down Anakin’s face. “My mother, Shmi.”

Despite what Noelani thinks, she’s not an idiot. Shmi clearly died a slow and terrible death, probably tortured for weeks. Anakin found her and he lost control. Then the cycle repeated with Ahsoka.

_Olodumare you have not been kind to this poor boy._

She crouches down, her voice soft. “I’m so sorry.”

He finally meets her eyes, pain evident in his tone and blue eyes shining with tears. “I couldn’t use the Force where I grew up, not the way I should’ve. Then Master Qui-Gon got me off Tatooine and I thought that with the Jedi I would be able to use my full abilities. But I couldn’t. They thought that I was being too brash, too bold, that I had none of their humility. I held myself back.”

He glanced back down at his mother. “And where did it get me? I was so out of balance I couldn’t tell my mother was in danger until it was too late. And then it happened again with Ahsoka.” He looked back up at Naliah, the hut beginning to shake. “It was _debilitating_ to hold myself back like that. So, I stopped. And now I don’t know how to lock it all away anymore. I can’t _make it stop_.” Lightning swirls in the sky above them, ear-splitting thunder following soon after.

Naliah is nearly thrown out. She grits her teeth, and focuses all her power on staying in. “Anakin listen to me. I understand. Believe me I do. But I can’t explain everything right now because the planet is being torn to pieces and if you don’t stop it, we’re all going to die.”

**_“How!”_ **

****

The wind howls. The outside world becomes a wall of whirling sand.

She fights to stay calm. “Give me your hands. I’ll walk you through it. Think of Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Rex, whoever you care about most in this world and do it for them.”

He startles and yanks his hands back. “Using emotions is a path to the Dark Side.”

Naliah grabs his hands, Shmi’s body disappears, the world blurs, and they find themselves under a starry night sky on a grassy planet. She stares into his eyes. “Love is not a path that leads to darkness, obsession is. Love conquers all. Now, breathe. Reach out. You are a child of the Force; it is an extension of yourself. It does not control you; you control it. You can do this. I believe in you.”

Anakin breathes deep, eyes fluttering shut. The earthquake shudders to a stop, and she feels Anakin’s turmoil roll to a halt. She opens her eyes and she’s back on Felucia. She barley registers Anakin’s voice screaming her name before darkness claims her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mikrí aderfí is greek for little sister. 
> 
> the atlanteans are based of off dc comics version of high-born atlanteans, but a little more feral. 
> 
> also yeah, anakin is an eldritch force horror. i've always had the theory when you're literally half human and half primordial life-force of the universe, you aren't gonna be anywhere near fully human. so obviously, when you're only around humans, you're gonna hold back to blend in. one of anakin's forms was based off of supernatural's description of an archangel/seraph and @peradi's wonderterror.
> 
> yes I aged anakin up, bc i find it weird the the council would give a 19 year old a padawan. also it helps with the plot so yeah.


	10. Oya's Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some nereid mythos & words of advice from the mother-goddess

Naliah was on the shoreline of a remote island in Tierra Del Fuego. She took in the beautiful mountains, rich green forests, and deep dark water. She inhaled sharply, recognizing the scenery. This was the island she was born on.

She glanced down at found that she wasn’t in her combat suit anymore. Instead, she wore a white dress, long sleeved and flowing loosely around her. Her braided hair was in an elegant half up-half down style and all of the wounds she sustained in battle were no longer there.

“You are a truly stunning creature, my child.”

Naliah whipped her head up and saw there was a woman standing in front of her. The woman had beautiful skin as dark as midnight, blinding white eyes, bold silver markings around her face, and her hair was fashioned into an elaborate gold headpiece that marked her as a queen. She gasped and dropped into her knee, bowing her head. “Mother Oya.”

She laughed, the sound dripping starlight and held out her hand. “Rise Naliah.” They were speaking in her tongue now, the harsh whistles and clicks a relief to here after months of human speech. “You were not made to bow.”

Naliah took the storm-goddesses’ hand and rose. She looked around noticing the offness about her birth-island. She couldn’t hear the fauna rustling in the trees, or the very distant clamoring of humans if she concentrated. There was no scent, everything smelled cold and foreign. She glanced up at the night sky and found it was a kaleidoscope of ever-shifting color, depicting a new series of constellations and galaxies every few moments. She turned back to Oya, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “You are here to guide me to the Deep Blue.”

The goddess smiled, grasping her hands tightly. “No storm of my storms, not yet. Your spirit still fights against my guidance. You still have much to do in the mortal plane.”

Naliah grew confused. “Why am I here then?”

Oya let go of one of Naliah’s hands and began to walk them down the shoreline. “My child, you are nearly dead. You could still lose this fight.”

“How do I win?”

The goddess tutted, exuding fond exasperation. “Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve let Chango have you.”

Naliah grinned, barring fangs. “Would you really want him to have me, Arcadie, and Kaimara? We’d be practically unstoppable.”

The goddess stopped, smiling softly. “No, I suppose not. Besides, you are much better suited to my gifts.” She paused, voice growing serious. “The star-walker, Naliah. He needs you. I have foreseen what will happen if he is left without guidance. He will swallow the universe whole and leave its ruins to the scavengers that follow him.”

Naliah shook her head, eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t have his power, I don’t know if I can help him.”

The goddess let out a short laugh. “You already have.” She let go of Naliah’s hand and holds hers raised at her sides. “I would love to keep you with me, my child. But there is someone else who wishes to speak with you.”

The world spins and she’s on the desert shoreline. The high, rolling dunes of sand are just as familiar as the steep mountains of her birth-waters. She’s on the shoreline of the Namib desert, the place where her six eldest sisters and mother were born.

“Naliah, oh how you’ve grown.”

She spins around and her mother is standing at the water’s edge. Naliah rushes into her arms, breathing in her scent for the first time in over ten years. She’s sobbing now. “Mom!”

Her mother grips her back tightly, Naliah can feel her tears soaking her dress. “My sweet queen of storms. I’ve missed you.”

She pulls away, still gripping her mother’s shoulders. “I missed you too.”

“Naliah,” Her mother’s voice is wavering. “It isn’t your time yet, you know this.”

Is it? The calm ocean looks ever-so inviting to her, and the sky is growing to be hypnotizing. She would be safe here. Back with her mother.

Naliah starts to cry harder. “I’m so scared mom. I’m scared I won’t be able to find the Trident. I’m scared I won’t make it home. I’m scared I won’t see the pack again. I’m scared I’ll fail Anakin.”

Her mother smiles, wiping the tears from her face. “What did I tell you about fear, Naliah.”

She takes in a deep breath, trying to center herself. “That it’s only an indicator about how much you care. That you should never let it influence your decision.”

“If you stayed here with me, it wouldn’t be because you are at peace. You would make the decision out of fear.”

Her mother caresses her face. “You will be with me in due time. Right now, you must help the star-walker and find the Trident.”

“How?” She asked, voice incredulous. “I’m no water-song caster, that’s not my power.”

Her mother’s voice took on the “you’re an idiot but I love you so I’m going to explain it slowly so you might understand” tone. “Naliah, you were claimed by Oya. The same goddess that Shabina was claimed by. She isn’t just a storm goddess. Or was it another goddess that had the title ‘Great Mother of the Elder Witches’? Water-song may not be your gift, but you are capable of it. Use it to call out to your sisters.”

Naliah went to respond but the world went blurry before it cleared again. Her mother eyed her, tears starting to form in her eyes again. “It seems you’ve made up your mind about staying here.”

She hugs her fiercely before letting go to stare at Naliah. “Humans often seek to destroy what they don’t understand. They never understood the star-walker before, and now he has stopped pretending to be human. Remain at his side and show him that it does not make him a creature of malice.”

Naliah takes a few steps back, nodding her head. She wants to tell her about Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, the clones, how her sisters have been fairing but she can sense she’s being pulled from this world. “I love you so much mom.”

Her mother turns, knee deep in Oshun. “You are my sun, moon, and stars, my queen of storms. Tell your sisters the same, and that I miss them and are so immensely proud of all of you.”

Naliah smiles, trying to hold back her tears again. “I will. I promise.”

Her mother dives into the Deep Blue, her flukes breaching the surface on last time before disappearing into the depths. The world starts to fade little by little until she is standing in nothing but black. She closes her eyes, fighting against the invisible tide trying to keep her there.

She gasps, eyes flying open, and wakes up to the sterile white ceiling of the _Resolute’s_ sick bay.


	11. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: torture

Naliah bolted upright, ignoring her body’s screams of protest. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, struggling to stave off the haze of confusion over it.

_Where am I? What happened? I need to get out. I shouldn’t be here. Run, run, run._

“Naliah, it’s ok!” An auburn-haired land-walker had appeared from the side of the room, clothing disheveled. He must have been here for some time.

Naliah snarled, barring her fangs, and flexed her claws. How did he know her name?

He held out his hands in a non-threatening gesture, not moving any closer. His scent finally hit her, and it all came back. Landing on Ando, allying with the Republic, Felucia, the vortex. She relaxed her posture, hands returning into her human form. “Obi-Wan?”

The Jedi dropped his hands, smiling gently. “There you are dear one.”

Naliah couldn’t help it. She broke at his words, leaping out of the hospital bed and straight into Obi-Wan’s arms.

_I would’ve missed this._

He stumbled, freezing at the contact before wrapping his arms around her tightly. Naliah felt something wet contact her shoulder. She pulled back and found Obi-Wan’s eyes red, his face glistening with tears. “Forgive me,” his voice was shaky. “It has been an arduous two days.”

She laughed; the sound wet due to her own tears. “The Obi-Wan Kenobi daring to show any type of emotion? It really must’ve been a shit two days.”

He pulled her back into another hug. “It was truly, fucking terrible.”

After they had calmed down some, Obi-Wan began to explain what had happened over the last two days. “We ordered an immediate evac once we got word of the blockade, but there were already five Separatist cruisers in orbit. By the time the rest of the fleet got to Felucia, we would’ve been outnumbered. Then there was this... _explosion_ in the Force, and the hyper-storm appeared. It swallowed the cruisers whole, and it looked like it was going to take the planet, but it stopped as suddenly as it appeared.” His voice grew quieter, as if he did not want to recount the next set of events. “The 104th pushed through the Separatist reinforcements and managed to get us off. Anakin showed up right as we were about to leave with you in his arms. You weren’t responsive. They had to restart your heart three times.” He took another deep shuddering breath. “Ahsoka was no better. She couldn’t stop shaking, lashing out at anything that moved, then passing out because of the exertion. They finally managed to sedate her and put her in the bacta tank. She got out a few hours ago, Anakin is with her now.”

Naliah chewed on her lip, dreading asking the next question. “And Anakin is…?”

Obi-Wan sighed. “More stable than he was. He’ll be better once he knows you’re ok.”

“Obi-Wan… what caused the hyper-storm?” Naliah asked slowly.

He furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back into his chair. “Anakin thought you caused it and that's the theory we went with. You didn’t?”

Naliah swallowed, putting everything into shielding her outright surprise. “It wasn’t me.”

He raised his eyebrows at that, laying a hand on his chin. “Well then I haven’t got the slightest idea.”

Both Obi-Wan and Kix wanted her to stay in medical for another night because in the words of the clone medic, _“You were medically dead three times, it doesn’t matter if you heal faster than most sentients, you’re staying here for observation.”_ As if.

She snuck out once the ship’s night cycle began, heading straight for Anakin’s quarters. Naliah reached the door of his quarters and it slid open automatically. Guess he knew she was here then. She stepped in, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, no one knows who caused the hyper-storm?”

Anakin glared at her from where he was sitting on his bed, dressed in a black tunic and sleep pants. “Hello to you too.”

She walked forwards and faced him, regarding Anakin with a raised eyebrow. “If you were gonna be moody, why’d you let me in?”

Anakin sighed, dragging his hand down his face. “You would’ve just kicked the door down.”

She cocked her head, pondering the statement. “Yeah, I probably would’ve. Why didn’t you tell anyone it was you?” Anakin opened his mouth to respond but Naliah held out a finger, stopping him. “Actually no, I’m ok with you not telling anyone. But _why the fuck_ did you let them think it was _me_!”

He narrowed his eyes at her pushing off the bed and towering over her. “Why is it such a fucking problem for you, they already know you’re not human! Everyone is ok with you calling lightning and hearing things from klicks away because you aren’t one of them! I can’t! I have to be like them! I’m the fucking _Chosen One_ but they can’t wrap their heads around the fact that I’m not one of them and I never will be!”

Anakin’s visage started to morph again. His mouth split open, filled with too many teeth and a long, forked tongue. The six wings were back, dripping supernovas and miniature galaxies. His arms shifted into tentacles, no they were clawed, wait arms again.

She couldn’t keep up with all of his forms.

He was _blinding_.

“But I can’t ever let them know that because **_they’ll take everything away from me!"_**

Pain raced through her body and Naliah dropped to the floor into a fetal position, her hands covering her ears. Anakin stabilized into a human form, backing away from Naliah and scrambling onto his bed. “Naliah, I’m so sorry. Go please, I’ll hurt you. I can barley control it.”

Naliah rolled onto her back before sitting up, the world spinning as she did. She hissed, dropping her head back in-between her knees, waiting for the feeling to pass. “Ok, that one was kind of on me.” She panted out.

She raised her head, looking directly at Anakin. She got up onto her feet and stood between Anakin’s legs, reaching out a hand and lifting his head. “You aren’t human. Big whoop. They’ll just have to deal with it. Honestly, they should’ve accepted it in the first place. As the resident non-human with weird abilities, I think I’m the best qualified at helping you. I’m staying.”

Anakin laid his hands around her middle, looking her up and down before pulling her tightly against him. He was shaking. “I had to carry you back to the gunship. I thought you were gone.”   
  


She swallowed, contemplating telling him the truth. “I was.”

He froze, setting her back down. “What?”

Naliah pulled Anakin back against the wall, leaning against it and crossing her legs on top of the bed. “I was at the water’s edge in the Deep Blue. I saw Oya, I saw my mother. I wanted to stay so bad.” The magnitude of her reality started to sink in. She _died_.

Anakin grasped her hand tightly, like he couldn’t believe she was actually here. “What made you come back?”

Naliah took a deep shuddering gasp, tears beginning to roll down her face. She’s had enough of crying, it was awful. “I wasn’t ready yet. I still need to make it back to my sisters. I need to find the Trident, keep my people safe.” She dropped her head onto Anakin’s shoulder. “Humans often destroy what they can’t understand. They don’t understand you Anakin, I’m not going to let them destroy you.”

Anakin turned his head to the side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I don’t deserve your loyalty, not when I was questioning yours.”

She sighed, dreading this conversation. “You should know about me and Kalce- “

A shrill scream cut her off. They both leapt out of bed, rushing out of Anakin’s room to the source of the noise. It was coming from Ahsoka’s room. Anakin waved his hand, opening the door and there was Ahsoka, writhing around on top her bed, attempting to get away from an invisible enemy. She felt Anakin reach out to Ahsoka with his mind and the young Togruta startled awake, bolting upright, her chest heaving. She growled on instinct, baring her fangs, and backing into the wall. Despite her docile nature compared to Naliah, Ahsoka was still every inch the predator she was.

Naliah kept her eyes averted from Ahsoka, making a low crooning sound. It was the same sound her mother used to comfort her when she was a child. Ahsoka responded well to it, coming back to her senses and recognizing the pair. “Master? Naliah?”

Anakin slowly walked forward, pushing feelings of comfort into the room. “Yeah Snips it's us.”

Naliah followed behind Anakin and gingerly sat down onto Ahsoka’s bed, keeping her distance in case she felt trapped again. “Hey ‘Soka.”

Ahsoka shot across the bed into Naliah’s arms. “You’re here.”

_How have I not run out of tears yet? I must run dry soon._

Naliah smiled, hugging her back tightly. “Of course I am, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Ahsoka let go and turned around to face Anakin. “Master, do you mind if I just talk to Naliah for a bit? You’ve been up for two days; you need your rest.”

Anakin shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the idea but seemed to break due to Ahsoka’s pleading eyes. “I’ll be right down the hall.”

After he left, Ahsoka turned to Naliah and began to speak. “I trust him its just that I don’t want him to get worked up. He stayed with me the entire time; he really does need to sleep some.”

Naliah raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m level-headed?”

“Oh, definitely not. You’re just calmer than him. Which honestly isn’t saying much.” She deadpanned.

Naliah rolled her eyes. “Thanks. You wanna talk or you just need me to be here?”

Ahsoka looked down and wringed her hands. “Both. Every time I close my eyes I’m back _there_ , and nothing I’m doing can make it stop.” She paused, looking at her missing index finger. “It doesn’t help that I have this to remind me of it.”

Naliah took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. Shit, Ahsoka _was_ right about her. “I was the same way when I left the camps. It wasn’t an easy transition.”

“How’d you make the nightmares stop?”

She leaned over and took Ahsoka’s hand. “I didn’t, not really. I still get them sometimes. You can’t just make them stop. As much as it sucks, it’s a gradual healing process. My sisters did help though. I don’t think I left their sides for the first few months after I left. They talked things through with me, kept me in the here and now. It still hurts to remember what happened back there, but it’s not a debilitating trigger anymore. My elder sister, Arcadie, would always tell me if I couldn’t face my past, then it would always hold control over me. I didn’t want to live my life with that constantly hanging over my head.”

She stroked Ahsoka’s mangled hand with her thumb. “This will always remind you of what happened on Felucia, yes. But it isn’t a mark of shame. It never will be. One day, you’ll be able to look at it as a badge of honor; a mark that shows you went through the impossible and _survived_.”

Ahsoka let a smile smile grace her face before hugging Naliah. “Thanks, Liah.”

Naliah squeezed the girl before pulling back. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. If it wasn’t for me landing here and bringing this mess to your galaxy, Kalce would’ve never taken you- “

Ahsoka cut her off. “There was no way of knowing that this was going to happen. It isn’t your fault. The only people at fault are the Atlanteans.” She paused, suddenly growing sheepish. “When you said you never left your sisters’ side, did that include while sleeping too? I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

Naliah smiled softly. “It did include that, yes. But that’s not all is it?”

Ahsoka averted her eyes from Naliah, staring at the floor. “Well, it’s just that… Anakin stayed with me until I went to sleep, and I felt super safe with him. But I want you there because you just _get us_ , you know? Like the thing you did when I first woke up and was freaking out? And- “

She laughed softly, this time cutting Ahsoka off. “I understand ‘Soka, come on.” She stood up and motioned towards the door. “Anakin’s bed is bigger, and probably warmer by now.”

The made the short trek down the hallway, knocking softly on Anakin’s door until it opened. He sat up from his bed, worry making its way onto his features, until Naliah stopped him. “We’re staying here for the night.”

He moved over, lifting the covers as he did. Ahsoka sliding into the middle, Naliah curling up around the outside. That was until an invisible force yanked her to face the other direction and threw one of her hands up. Anakin’s metal hand wrapped around her own and settled over Ahsoka, effectively making a shield against anything that would harm her.

She felt Anakin’s mind brush against hers, asking for her to open a connection.

_“Sorry it’s the metal one. I can let go if you want.”_

_“I don’t mind it.”_

_confusion-awe-surprise_

_“You sure?”_

_“It’s a part of you as much as the flesh one. Besides it’s wicked. Wicked in a good way.”_

She paused, not wanting to upset Anakin but decided they needed to discuss it. _“You should tell Obi-Wan it was you. Ahsoka too. They deserve to know, and it will help in the long run. Isolating yourself will just make things harder.”_

_“…You’re right. Obi-Wan probably already has an idea. There were a few…incidents…when I was his padawan.”_

Anakin ends up telling Ahsoka and Obi-Wan the next morning while Naliah was getting yelled at by Kix. She comes back to all three of them red-eyed and teary-faced, but their bonds seem even stronger, something she had no idea was possible given how close the three already were. Obi-Wan was the first to suggest that they don't go to the Council citing, _“I always hated the fact that you were held to be a messiah figure even as a small boy. You were never given the chance to be a normal padawan.”_ and suggests that they start testing Anakin’s actual limits, after they’ve all recovered from the mess that was Felucia.

Naliah ends up staying with Anakin and Ahsoka for the rest of the hyperspace journey, and it continues when they get to the Temple. Anakin never moved out of Obi-Wan’s apartment when he was knighted, and Ahsoka just took the spare bedroom when she became his padawan. Given the current circumstances, Obi-Wan wasn’t going to let any of them out of his sight so now, all four of them were in Obi-Wan’s apartment. She didn’t mind it though. The bustling apartment reminded her of being with pack back home; it was comforting. Even if she was tripping over Anakin’s parts all the time.

She discovers that the Temple has a whole five-level area dedicated to being natural saltwater pool, since there were many aquatic species that were Jedi as well. It’s as close to Oshun as she’ll get on this planet, so she’ll take it. When Ahsoka isn’t working physio on her hand, Naliah takes her down there to get her more in touch with her instincts. The water isn’t Ahsoka’s natural environment, but Naliah feels like she can teach better when she’s in her natural state.

She’s also beginning to come to the conclusion that the Jedi teach repression (like come on, have you met Obi-Wan) and not control, but she’ll keep that opinion to herself for now.

Naliah and Ahsoka arrived back from the pool one morning, whistling a greeting to Artoo and waving at Obi-Wan. Anakin hadn’t notice them come in, as he was engrossed in one of his many projects. Ahsoka went to yell but Naliah stopped her. _“I think now would be a good time to practice those hunting tips we went over.”_

The Togruta grinned, showing fangs and dropped into a crouch, moving silently across the common room floor. Obi-Wan, noticing the actions, raised an eyebrow and pointed at Ahsoka. Naliah motioned towards an oblivious Anakin and Obi-Wan grinned, turning around the face the scene that was unfolding. Ahsoka got within five feet of Anakin before launching herself at the Jedi, twisting her body weight around him so that she fell on top of him, snarling loudly once she had him pinned. Anakin let out a very high-pitched and un-Jedi like scream, startled by Ahsoka’s attack. Both Obi-Wan and Naliah burst out laughing, Obi-Wan falling into the cushions of the couch and Naliah forced to lean on the wall for support. Ahsoka bounded off him, oozing smug pride into the room.

Anakin sat up and glared at Naliah. “When I said ‘help Ahsoka with trusting her instincts more’ I didn’t mean turn her into your personal, feral attack Togruta.”

Naliah ignored Anakin, going up to hug Ahsoka. “That was perfect! We’ll make a Huntress out of you after all.”

Ahsoka giggled before going to playfully grapple with Anakin in the open space, leaving Naliah to go investigate what Obi-Wan was doing. Obi-Wan was still sprawled across the couch, pointedly ignoring the hissing and yelling going on behind him. The Nereid dropped onto the Jedi’s stomach, folding her legs under her, not paying any mind to Obi-Wan’s discomfort. “What are we watching?”

Obi-Wan glared up at her, motioning towards the empty chairs with his hand. “You couldn’t have sat over there?”

She cocked her head, pretending to weigh the option. “Nope. Besides, here I can watch the holo aaanndddd, the dramatic fight to death happening on the other side of me.”

As soon as she said that there was a particularly loud screech and a crashing sound. She peeked over the top of the couch, surveying the damage, and then turned back to Obi-Wan. “Aren’t you responsible for them?”

Obi-Wan fixed his gaze at the holo. “If I can’t see it then it’s not my problem. It’s how I got through Anakin’s relationship with Senator Amidala.”

She snorted and was cut off from responding by a violent snarl, and the distinct sound of clothes tearing. Obi-Wan sighed, realizing he had to intervene. “Dear Force, will you two quit already!” He laid his arms crossed over his head, mumbling to himself. “It’s like herding loth-cats.” He raised his voice back to a volume that was meant for everyone to hear. “Can we at least _try_ to have a peaceful morning before the day begins?”

Ahsoka rounded the corner, dropping into the nearby chair, her tone teasing. “But Master, Master Yoda always says, ‘do or do not, there is no try’. We clearly can’t _do_ peaceful, so we went for _not_ having peace.”

Anakin emerged from his room, wearing a different shirt, and sporting a set of scratches on his arms. “Exactly. We’re just following the teachings of Master Yoda like any good Jedi would.”

Obi-Wan groaned, ripping the pillow out from underneath his head and laying it on top of his face. “Naliah, please contain your strays, they’re giving me grey hair.”

She turned back to the holo. “I’ve never met those people in my entire life. I’m just a lone Nereid watching… _The Galaxy’s Oceans_? Seriously? You could’ve just asked me about all of this.”

“I didn’t want to pry.” Obi-Wan’s voice was muffled by the pillow. “You three heathens try not to get into trouble, I have a Council meeting to get to.”

He took the pillow off his head and levitated Naliah to the other side of the couch, ignoring her annoyed clicking and walked off to go get ready. His departure triggered the rest of them to get on with their day, Ahsoka heading down to library guard duty, Anakin going down to the hangar with Artoo, (he had a meeting with the Council later too) and Naliah headed out to stretch her legs.

Nothing compared to barreling through Oshun at break-neck speeds with her sisters but leaping from rooftop to rooftop was the next best thing, the few seconds of weightlessness reminding her of the water. She landed in a crouch on top of a building in CoCo town, pausing, appearing to catch her breath. She wasn’t actually winded, she was scanning.

Someone was following her. They were down-wind of her and staying right outside of her echolocation range. All she knew is that they were humanoid and managing to keep up with her. She dropped down from the building, landing in a dark back alley. She spotted a high beam going across the alley and leapt on top of it waiting for her stalker to appear. It didn’t take long for them to catch up with her, landing softly at the same spot she had. They crept forwards, coming right below where she was perched.

Naliah jumped down and hooked her legs around their neck, throwing her body weight to the side and sent them crashing down. She straddled her would-be assailant, holding her claws at their neck. She growled as she figured out who it was. “Kalce.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the atlanteans are the ocean version of roaches, they just won't die. next chapter will cover the events of holocron heist to children of the force! probably.


	12. Poseidon's Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was not meant to be an interlude but here we are, enjoy

_"Kalce."_

The male laughed. “You haven’t lost your touch.” He grabbed her free arm and hooked his leg around hers, flipping them so he was on top. “But the time with the land-walkers has softened you, _Damasandra.”_

She growled lowly and blasted a wave of air at the male, sending him flying off her. She flipped up and flicked out her swords, rushing forwards to slice the male down. Kalce blocked the attack with his trident, and the two exchanged a series of blows attempting to take control of the fight from another. Naliah finally managed to break through with a dynamic series of power attacks, weakening Kalce’s defense until she disarmed him with a well-placed roundhouse kick that sent his weapon flying out of his grip. She threw out her hands throwing twin compressed balls of sky-fire at the Atlantean, sending him across the alley and into the wall.

She summoned two chains of sky-fire and wrapped them around Kalce’s neck forcing him into a kneeling position. “I should rip you apart here and leave your organs for the dogs.”

He raised his eyebrow, his face still cocky despite the blood dripping down his mouth. “Then go ahead.”

Naliah hissed, eyes narrowing, and balled her fists, increasing the voltage. Kalce screamed, barley staying conscious. “You wouldn’t risk coming here unless you had leverage. Who is it?”

He sneered at her, his voice dark. “That little Senator from Naboo has been getting quite close with you hasn’t she?”

Naliah hissed, dropping the lightning chains and stepping back. “What do you want.”

Kalce staggered to his feet dusting himself off. “To talk.”

Naliah raised an eyebrow. “And if I don’t want to?”

“The Senator is fine right now; she’s working on a draft in her apartment. But if I don’t check in with Azar and Varril periodically, she dies. Your choice, _Damasandra._ ”

They end up going back to the lavish penthouse apartment where the three males had been staying at during their time on Coruscant. Naliah plops down on the couch, wondering where the hell she went wrong in her life while Kalce fiddles with something in the kitchen. He comes back with a tray of raw seafood and two glasses of wine, setting the glasses down on the table and putting the tray between them on the couch.

Naliah glances up at where the lightning had been wrapped around Kalce’s neck. The burns were nearly healed already. Fucking Atlanteans.

He motions towards the tray. “I doubt they’ve been feeding you properly and you wouldn’t ask anyways.”

She glares at Kalce but he’s right, so she reaches out and takes a piece of fish, slicing it into smaller strips with her claws. It isn’t drugged and despite all the atrocities Kalce has committed, he turns his nose up at forcing himself onto someone.

She swallows her piece before responding. “They could, but they only have a limited supply of food dedicated to carnivores and I’m not technically carnivorous, so I don’t take it.”

That’s not exactly true, she was strictly carnivorous until she started going up to the human world and still isn’t full adjusted to the food. She doesn’t take the carnivorous meals on the cruisers because they were meant for Ahsoka. Oh well.

She poked at another filet. “Holy gods, is this whale?”

“It’s amazing how much more agreeable you are when you’re fed.” Kalce muttered. Naliah looked up at him and hissed, reminding him that no matter how much food he gave her she wasn’t domesticated. He sighed before continuing. “I don’t like you working with the Republic. I don’t trust them, and they’re dangerous.” 

Naliah nearly spat out her whale. “I’m sorry, you don’t like _me_ working with the Republic? Have you seen who you’re working with?”

He scoffed. “I don’t trust the Separatists either. I don’t like you working with the Republic because it’s corrupt. The Separatists knew you were going to be on Felucia. It’s the only reason I went.”

Naliah paused, her eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t agree to go to Felucia until I got word you were already there.”

Kalce cursed, taking a long pull of his drink. “Sidious is a right bastard.”

“Sidious? Who’s that?”

Kalce sat his drink down. “He’s the Sith Master, the one pulling all the strings on my side.”

Naliah narrowed her eyes. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Kalce huffed, unimpressed by her questioning. “Naliah, do you really think that the Republic or the Separatists are going to just hand over the Trident. Especially to a species that rivals Force-Sensitives in power? We’re an unknown variable. The Trident reacts to Force-Sensitives, who’s to say that they won’t use it against us? We can have our fight to the death over the Trident once we ensure it will at least go to our sides. Until then it’s us against the galaxy.”

Naliah crossed her arms over her chest. “You have a point.” She went back to the previous topic. “Wait. How did Sidious know that I was going to be on Felucia before I knew it even existed? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“How did my father take the Atlantean throne?”

She folded her legs on top of the couch. “He orchestrated a war between the powerful factions. He played both sides and took out anyone who opposed him through the war. The unrest couldn’t be contained and Queen Aya and King Laris were ousted. Your father was already a powerful Lord and established General with a loyal army, so with the power vacuum, it made the most sense for him to take the place of the royal family. Especially since he had convinced the people that the rulers were the enemy.” Kalce raised an eyebrow motioning for her to keep going. “What? Did I miss something?”

She paused, coming to an epiphany. “It’s happening here.”

He smiled. “I knew you would figure it out.”

Naliah reached for her glass, sipping on it. “You think Sidious is playing both sides then. So, who is he and what’s his endgame, is what we have to figure out.”

He smirked. “It’s back to we now?”

She sighed. “We’re the next biggest threat to Sidious, right? If he really is playing both sides then he ends up with the Trident no matter what. He’ll go after both our species to make sure no one could match his power and take it back. Besides, you really wanna go after a galactic war-monger by yourself or…?”

Kalce huffed, sinking back to the couch. “I’ve spoken to him twice. All I could tell is that he was humanoid. He kept his cloak on the entire time. I doubt he would go to such lengths to hide his appearance if he was openly on the side of the Separatists.”

Naliah went back for another piece of fish. Damn, the Jedi really were doing her dirty on the food side of things. “Well if the Sith aren’t fighting the Sith, who would they want to take out?”

Kalce reached down to take his own piece. “The Sith are the antithesis of the Jedi. Orchestrating the war would be a more subtle way of thinning their numbers then outright assassination.” 

Naliah nodded, working through the numbers. “The Jedi are spread thin. But even if the war went on for decades you couldn’t kill them all. Eventually you would have to be forced to fall back on a massacre. Public opinion on the Jedi isn’t amazing but they wouldn’t just allow for them to all be killed.”

“Maybe Sidious is using the war to do just that. The Jedi are supposed to be peacekeepers. If they were truly peacekeepers, then the conflict never should’ve happened in the first place. Eventually the public will reach a breaking point, and they’ll be so angry that they won’t mind the Jedi gone.”

Naliah grabbed a braid, twirling the end of it around her finger. “Ok that makes sense. But who Sidious is, must be the key. There isn’t anyone on either side with a powerful enough army to support a change of power. Unless the Sith Lord is General Grievous.”

Kalce sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m fairly sure Sidious is posing as someone on your side. It would make the most sense on why he figured you were going to Felucia with Skywalker. He has to have major influence in the Republic.”

She leaned back against the couch, wracking her brain to match the description with any Republic figures. “The most powerful position, politically speaking, would be the Supreme Chancellor. But Obi-Wan told me he’s been in office for over a decade now, and no one has come close to taking the position from him. His approval rate seems to go up with every battle, so much so that they keep giving him more emergency powers.”

Kalce flopped onto his back. “Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong.”

“Maybe. As much as I’d like it to be the Chancellor it probably isn’t. He’s rubbed me the wrong way since I first met him…” Her voice trailed off, connecting the dots.

Kalce sat up, his gaze questioning. “What?”

_I’m actually dumber than a jellyfish, holy gods._

She looked up at Kalce, trying to keep the horror out of her voice. “We’re thinking like the Battle of Geonosis started this war. It didn’t. It started eleven years ago with the blockade against Naboo, but the fighting just broke out recently, that’s what Obi-Wan told me.” 

Kalce inhaled sharply. “Right. They held a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorem…”

Naliah met Kalce’s eyes. “And the then Senator Palpatine of Naboo became Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.”

“But why would he drag out his plan for so long? What was he waiting for?” Kalce asked in a frustrated tone.

Naliah growled, staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know! The Chancellor doesn’t even have an army he could use without freaking the Republic loyalists out. He can’t use the droids; they’ve been marked as Separatist. The clones are extremely loyal to the Jedi, they wouldn’t just turn on them.” She paused, rewinding back to earlier in the conversation. “You said Sidious knew I was going to be with Skywalker.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

She hissed, standing up and starting to pace. “I fucking _knew_ Palpatine was a sea-snake.” Kalce raised an eyebrow at her, signaling her to elaborate. “Palpatine said he’s read through all the reports of Ando. He’s seen me with Anakin. He probably figured we were close. Plus, Anakin has these private meetings with him every time he’s on planet, he might have said something about me wanting to stay with him there.”

Kalce narrowed his eyes, getting back into a sitting position. “We’ll come back to the fact that you and Skywalker are close. But private meetings? That doesn’t seem a little odd to anyone?”

Naliah tossed her head, scoffing. “I brought that up, but Anakin wouldn’t have it. Apparently, they’ve been happening since he was a child. He’s ridiculously loyal to the man.”

“He’s a star-walker, isn’t he?”

She froze. “Most likely.”

“Naliah,” Kalce said slowly. “A star-walker is the most powerful weapon in the universe. What does that make the person who _controls_ the star-walker?”

Ice ran through her veins. “The most powerful person in the universe.” She turned to face Kalce. “Palpatine is trying to win Anakin to his side, isn’t he?”

Kalce stood up and drained his glass, going back to the kitchen to refill it. “That’s what all the signs are pointing to.” He called over his shoulder. He came back with a full glass, sitting back down onto the couch. “Would Skywalker turn if Palpatine asked?”

Naliah sat down beside Kalce, her face pensive. She wanted to say gods no Anakin would never betray her or the Jedi, but she’d be a liar. “…Now? No. But he has…tendencies.”

Kalce cocked his head, gaze sliding back to Naliah. “What if Palpatine played it like how I would? Used Skywalker’s fears? Would it be an easy task for him?”

_They’ll take everything away from me!_

_Perhaps the Chancellor was right about your allegiances…._

She inhaled sharply. Anakin was terrified of being abandoned. He would do anything to make sure he wouldn’t be left behind. He didn’t trust the majority of the Jedi, nor did he care much about their code. He was only truly close with her, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and maybe Senator Amidala. Take them away and the only person left for him to turn to would be…Palpatine.

She growled out a curse in her language, the harsh whistles causing Kalce to cover his ears. He shot her a look. “So that’s a yes then?”

Naliah nodded. “I’m ninety percent sure it’s Palpatine. He has the means and motive. But I still don’t think he would only invest in Anakin as his fighting force. For someone who organized a conflict years in the making, that seems pretty stupid.”

“You’re suggesting he has a secret army somewhere?” Kalce’s eyes roved over Naliah’s body. “Perhaps he’ll hypnotize his opposers with his charms.” He cocked his head.

“This isn’t your usual style.” Kalce motioned to the outfit she was wearing. It was a dark blue, v-neck, short-sleeved body suit that split and lengthened into a skirt just below her hips. She wore a pair of black leggings underneath it. 

If looks could kill, Kalce would be burning in a hydrothermal vent somewhere. “I’m trying to convince Ahsoka that a tube-top and skirt are not the only clothing items that she can wear into battle that don’t restrict her movement.”

He reached over and rolled a section of her skirt in his fingers. “It suits you, _Damasandra.”_

She shot up off of the couch, wrapping a hand around Kalce’s throat, pressing him back into the cushions. “Don’t.”

He looked her up and down, voice soft. “It’s what you are, my love. A _seirína,_ subduer of men.” He slowly reached up and guided her arm down.

“Psychopaths can’t love.” Naliah spat.

He ran a hand down the sides of her curves. “I’m a lot of things, but I’ve never lied to you.” His voice became wistful. “It’s ridiculous. You convince yourself that I’m the one who’s obsessive, that I’m the one trying to control you. But that’s not the case is it? You’ve always been the one in control. You love the feeling of me chasing after you. You love the way you own my mind, body, and soul. It’s in your nature.”

“I should hate it.” He whispered. “But I love it as much as you do.”

He was right. Naliah and Kalce were two binary stars, destined to orbit each other for the rest of eternity. They’ll get pulled too close to one another and explode into the universe before reforming and starting the cycle all over again.

Naliah hated Dromo’s Atlanteans, hated them for locking her away, hated them for killing her tribe, for forcing her into becoming a child soldier, for taking away her sisters’ childhood.

A Siren’s revenge is never a quick process. A Siren tears her chosen victims apart from the inside out, making them drown in her, crave for her, _ache_ for her, because none of this would hurt her in the end. Their victims are just their newest plaything. When the creature eventually goes mad and ends their own suffering or she gets bored and kills them, she moves on to a new victim.

And what better person to suffer than the golden son of King Dromo himself?

Kalce’s her latest victim, and Kalce would give her anything. Even give her the exact coordinates to where his family was hiding during the final days of the war.

Naliah knew that she should tell Kalce to go fuck himself and discuss how they were supposed to prove that the Supreme Chancellor is actually a Sith Lord.

But if she let him have her…

She’ll get to mark him, whisper empty promises in his ear, and bring him to absolute ruin before walking right out the door. She’ll turn into the wild, violent, untamable Siren again and it will send Kalce into pure agony because he’ll remember he’ll never have her love. 

She had convinced Kalce that she was his religion, that she was the only thing worth living for.

She only loved breaking his heart.

The rational part of her brain told her that she should focus and get on with saving the galaxy. That sleeping with Kalce would be a _terrible_ idea and it will come back to bite her later. But she’s a child of Oya, the vengeful mother of storms. She wanted to torture Kalce a little bit more. Plus, he’s an _amazing_ lay.

Naliah wrapped her hand in Kalce’s shoulder length blood-red hair, yanking his head upwards. She leaned down letting her lips brush against his and dropped her voice into a sultry whisper, letting her power wrap around her words and seep into his mind, no direction behind it just reminding him how _intoxicating_ she was. The Atlantean gave a full body shudder, his eyes rolling back into his head. “Show me how much you love it then.”

He does. It’s fantastic. The scattered bruising across her thighs proves it.

The begging, screaming, and yelling he does when she leaves him? Even better.

All that residual pleasure leaves her body when she gets back to the Temple and finds that her decision had already come back to bite her. A bounty hunter hired by the Separatists had broken in and stolen a holocron.

_Fucking Atlanteans. Literally._

She’s got to start working on taking the moral high ground sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter shows off how naliah listens to the weeknd RELIGIOUSLY, specifically the trilogy album. the toxicity, we love. lmao na, homegirl is gonna need to work on that. 
> 
> yeah they've figured out that the palpatine isn't who he seems to be. will it speed up things in the war? probably. am i going to bring some of naliah's sisters into the mix too? also probably, our girl is in wayyyy over her head.
> 
> also, all the interludes are going to be named after a deity. so yoruba mythos for the nereids & greek mythos for the atlanteans


	13. Realizations

“Let me try.”

The Jedi had managed to capture Cad Bane after multiple attempts. Naliah had remained with Obi-Wan and the 212th while Anakin and Ahsoka had split off and found him on Naboo. They had rendezvoused on the _Resolute_ where Bane was being held. Mace Windu was also here, much to her displeasure, and the three Jedi had attempted to mind trick Bane into revealing the whereabouts of the missing children. It hadn’t worked.

Windu raised his eyebrows, glancing at Naliah. “We could not get past Bane’s defenses. What makes you think you can?”

Naliah stifled a sigh. One day she _will_ rip his throat out. “I don’t tear my way through my victims’ shields like a charging Great White. He won’t resist me.”

Anakin gave her a pointed look, crossing his arms. Ok, he was the exception but that was a life or death situation. She didn’t _prefer_ to do that.

Obi-Wan sighed, resignation coloring his voice. “Very well. Try it your way. Do not, however, under any circumstances damage his mind. We still need him.”

Naliah grinned, flashing fangs. “You got it!” She made towards the cell before turning around to face the others. “Oh, and I suggest staying out here. Sometimes my power…leaks…for lack of a better word.”

She stepped in and was met with a rather furious Cad Bane. “Are you supposed to be the nice one? Use your kindness to convince me into telling you what you want to know?”

Naliah smiled, sashaying up to where Bane was. She lifted a hand and gently drug it down the bounty hunter’s face, locking eyes with him. “Something like that.” She purred out. Naliah gripped the hunter’s chin and began to sing in an ethereal, brassy tone. She cast her senses out and brushed her mind up against his, telling him to _chase her._ She felt ecstasy flood Bane’s senses and he brought his shields crashing down in a vain attempt to truly feel the full effect of her song. She sank her psionic claws into his mind and felt her control take hold. 

_Got him._

She backed away, feeling Bane’s distress as she did. “Do you swear yourself to me?”

Bane’s eyes flicked in and out of focus before meeting hers and sharpening. His voice was low, and if she didn’t know any better, she would assume that he was drunk. “I relinquish my mind, body, and soul to you. I live only to serve you.”

Naliah grinned before sobering herself. Now was not the time to have a power trip. She waved the others in, sliding over to the edge of the room. “You’ll answer their questions.”

“Of course.” Bane straightened in his seat and gave all his attention to the Jedi. They gave her disbelieving looks, unsure of how she managed to swing this one, but they quickly focused back on the task at hand.

Windu spoke first. “Where is the holocron?”

“At one of my safe-houses, you’ll need me to get in. Lots of traps.”

“Where are the kids?”

“A facility on Mustafar. Near one of the old mining plants.”

Obi-Wan stepped in. “Who hired you for the job?”

Bane grimaced, and Naliah felt him try to fight off her influence. He was terrified of whoever hired him. She straightened off the wall she was leaning on and spoke, her voice growing distorted as she pulled on her power. “ **Answer them. Or you will have failed me**.”

Bane’s eyes widened and he whipped back to face the Jedi. “Darth Sidious. Dark Lord of the Sith. He wants to create an army of Force-Sensitive children.”

Terror shot through the room. Sidious was becoming less of a shadowy rumor and more of a horrifying hidden player. Naliah turned back towards Bane. “Show us his face.”

In her mind’s eye she was gifted with an image of a dark figure, features hidden behind a cloak. Kalce was right, Sidious did not like showing his face. 

Naliah cursed, annoyed that Sidious wasn’t arrogant enough to slip up. She glanced back over at the Jedi. “You have any more questions for him?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, still in a slight state of shock. “For now? No…thank you.”

Naliah closed her eyes and began cutting the tendrils of her influence off Bane. “I release you from my control and any bonds you have formed with me.” Bane’s mind disconnected with hers and the bounty hunter came back to his senses, snarling and yanking at his restraints. “Mind-vexing bitch! I’ll kill you for this!”

Naliah let out a cold laugh, popping out a hip. “Mind-vexing? That’s a new one. Six out of ten for originality because ‘bitch’ is overused. Now, _quiet_.”

The hunter immediately fell silent, clearly surprised that he had no choice to follow the command. Fun fact: Sirens’ will always hold a fraction of influence over their victims. Something that many of their targets figured out when it was too late.

Naliah ended up going with Anakin and Ahsoka to the Mustafar facility while Windu and Obi-Wan went to Bane’s hideout. There wasn’t any sign of Sidious and the facility was rigged to be destroyed, so they didn’t manage to get any evidence of what was going on. On the plus side, they did save all the children and reunite them with their families. Bane escaped custody, much to everyone’s annoyance, but the holocron was recovered. Apparently, the Council moved to discreetly investigate Dooku's claims about Sidious, finally realizing the magnitude of his influence. 

They were back at the Temple now and Naliah and Ahsoka were currently in bed watching a Terran movie on Naliah’s tablet. The thing had managed to survive the journey here and if she was being honest, human movies were her guilty pleasure. Naliah did end up breaking and going to one of Coruscant’s markets to buy actual food that would support her diet, and she was currently eating scallop-like creatures out of a bowl. Sort of. Ahsoka kept stealing them.

“There’s five more kilos in the fridge, just go get your own.”

Ahsoka whined and dramatically flopped back down. “It’s so farrrrrr. And I’m down to nine fingers.”

Naliah snorted and rolled her eyes. “If you can make jokes about your hand then you’re well enough to go get your own food.”

The Togruta huffed and crossed her arms. “Please.” She turned her bright blue eyes on Naliah, and the Nereid broke.

Sighing, she got up and handed Ahsoka her bowl and meandered out to the kitchen to get more snacks. She was pouring herself a glass of water, (which was still a weird concept to her because she doesn’t need to hydrate in the water) when Obi-Wan and Anakin came through the door. She didn’t look up from her pouring, trilling out a soft greeting.

Obi-Wan mumbled a hello back, going straight for the drinks cabinet and downing a shot of something. So, it had been one of _those_ days. Anakin wasn’t any better, going straight past them to his room, emerging a few seconds later wearing a loose black tunic and pants.

Obi-Wan, who was on his third shot already, glanced up and made a pointing motion at Anakin and vanished into his room. He came out wearing a white shirt and grey pants and returned to his bottle. He went to take a fourth shot but Naliah held out a hand, wrapping air currents around it and bringing it to her. She raised an eyebrow, her voice sardonic. “I’m not an expert on Jedi but I’m pretty sure ‘drinking yourself into a coma’ isn’t in the Code.”

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, reaching out a hand and yanking the bottle back. “It is actually, right under the instructions on how to deal with impossibly stubborn politicians and other Council members.” He went to take a swig, but the liquid didn’t budge. He closed his eyes and probably counted to three before fixing his gaze on Nailah. “Naliah, by the Force, if you don’t quit, I will make you regret that decision.”

Naliah barred her teeth gleefully, making the liquid swirl around the bottle. “Really?” She purred out. Maybe it’s because she’s the youngest out of 13, but she really wanted to see how far she could push it.

“Liah stop, it’s been a shitshow of a day.” Anakin said from behind her. She turned to face him and made note of the dark circles under his brilliant blue eyes and his exhaustion that was steadily leaking into the room. She felt kind of bad now.

She crossed her arms and let the alcohol settle. “Fine. I’m not dragging you to a med-center when you need your stomach pumped though.”

Obi-Wan scoffed and went for another swig. “I think I have more self-control than that.”

Naliah grabbed her stuff and went back into Anakin’s/Ahsoka’s/Her room and sat back down, putting the bigger bowl of space-scallops between her and Ahsoka. She started re-adjusting the blanket nest she had created when Anakin walked in and sat down beside her. She stifled another sigh. She has to redo this all over again.

Ahsoka, paying no mind to her distress, greeted Anakin. “Hey Skyguy.”

Anakin still had a hand over his face as he responded. “Hey Snips.” A loud screeching sound and metal crumpling made Anakin look up at the tablet. “What are you two watching?”

Naliah was still shuffling blankets around so Ahsoka responded for her. “It’s called _Godzilla: King of the Monsters_. We just watched the first one.”

Anakin shifted towards the screen. “What’s it about?”

Ahsoka, cocked her head, scrunching her nose. “Honestly? Big monsters causing property damage. But it looks really cool.”

Naliah settled as Anakin glanced at her. “You like this?”

She huffed, burying herself into her blankets. “The plot? No. But the effects are cool, and I like watching humans panic. Plus, it reminds me of home.”

Anakin did a double take, looking at her then back at the screen. Currently, King Gidorah was facing up against Godzilla for the first time. “Terra has gigantic monsters walking around its surface?”

She shook her head. “No, not on the surface. They’re all deep within the core.” She made a nonchalant motion with her hand. “Not all of them are as big as these ones either. I’ve killed a few, they aren’t much to worry about if they stay in their territory. Some are friendly though.”

Anakin leaned back, taking in the information. “You terrify me.”

Ahsoka, who Naliah thought was engrossed in the movie, piped back in. “You’re terrified of her? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

Anakin glared at Ahsoka. “If you had my powers, would you still be scared of her?”

Ahsoka glanced at Naliah, looking the Siren up and down. “I take it back.”

Naliah laughed looking between the two. “You do realize that I’m not all-powerful right? I can still die.” She paused. “Speaking of powers, we should go to that junkyard. You really need to try and burn off some excess power before your next deployment.”

Anakin groaned, leaning over, and putting his head into her lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Not right now, right?”

Naliah carded her fingers through his curls and she felt the Jedi shiver, tugging her closer. She wanted to go out at night, it was her preferred time but everyone else was dead on their feet. “We can go tomorrow morning. Obi-Wan might have his blood-alcohol level back down to the legal limit by then.”

“Doubtful.” He mumbled, half asleep.

Ahsoka was becoming droopy eyed as well, and five minutes later the Togruta dropped off too. Naliah cast out her senses, checking on the state of Obi-Wan and was relived to find out he was asleep as well. She turned off the tablet stowing it away and lied down. She started to let her thoughts wander, as one does as they’re about to sleep when a realization hit her.

She _listened_ to Anakin. _Twice_.

That isn’t normally a big deal for most species, but it was for her kind. Especially her. Nereids are matriarchal, they track lineage through the mother and the females are the dominates in tribal/pack relations. Grandmothers run the entire tribe and Mothers run their individual packs. Males stay with their family and only leave when they desire children, often going back when the young are born. Kiara never desired a life-mate so Naliah and her sisters didn’t grow up with their fathers in the picture. It was normal for them. It’s not like they didn’t have male influences, they had cousins and uncles.

Integrating new members into a pack or tribe was difficult. It was why her mother didn’t bother with on. If the tribe rejected them, then they weren’t allowed to stay. Even if they were a part of a mated group. The dilemma would cause cast-outs within the tribe and when a Nereid is cast-out, they were essentially considered dead to the tribe. They went out alone with their rejected mate and would often be killed because they didn’t have safety in numbers.

Naliah didn’t just listen to males. She didn’t listen to most people period. But she was listening to Anakin. She was protecting him, teaching him how to use his powers, taking care of Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, which to her, were his child and brother. Hell, she was _sleeping in his fucking bed_.

She didn’t _like_ Anakin, right?

Panic seized her heart. She couldn’t court him. Because if even one of her sisters didn’t approve, she would run the risk of being cast-out. And she honestly didn’t know whose side she would choose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly writing this is so weird now that i've started the mando fic lmaoo   
> i based the nereid tribal relations off of those from a killer whale pod, no i'm not that smart. the cast-out thing is mine tho.   
> poor liah can't catch a break, toxic ex won't die and now she's catching feelings for anakin "himbo" skywalker.   
> next chapter will cover geonosis!


	14. Family

The four did not end up going out to the shipyard in the morning as Anakin was deployed to Canto Nemodia for some super-secret Senate mission. Ahsoka went off to enjoy being a normal padawan and teenage girl, which meant going to classes. Obi-Wan, who somehow was not hungover, also had Jedi duties to attend to.

With her house mates gone, it left one very bored and lonely Nereid wandering around the apartment. Naliah contemplated digging into the theory of Palpatine being a Sith Lord but that require heavy research which would show up on the Temple’s records and she didn’t want to leave a trail.

Huffing loudly, she plopped down on the couch and threw on the holo, deciding to watch some mindless entertainment until someone came back. Naliah let her thoughts wander, thinking back to what her mother had told her in the Deep Blue.

_“Naliah, you were claimed by Oya. The same goddess that Shabina was claimed by. She isn’t just a storm goddess. Or was it another goddess that had the title ‘Great Mother of the Elder Witches’? Water-song may not be your gift, but you are capable of it. Use it to call out to your sisters.”_

She let lightning crackle in her palm, gazing at her power questioningly. It had been a long time since she had actively sat in on any of Shabina or Ravenna’s casting. How in the hells was she even supposed to call out to her sisters?

She snarled loudly and resisted the urge to claw something into sheds. Naliah got up to pace some more before stopping at mirror hanging on the back wall.

_“Most of the land walkers aren’t aware but a mirror is almost like a water vortex with the right amount of magic. You just have to find the right frequency.”_

Stars above, she’s dense.

Naliah took a breath to steady herself and let the noises fade away. Right now, she had to focus on matching the mirror’s frequency to her world’s. She sang softly, gradually increasing in volume as she got closer to matching the vibrational level. When she finally heard the two match, she dug as deep as she could and threw her power into the mirror.

_Sisters hear me. Follow my call to this world. I am alive. Come find me._

The mirror flashed for a second, the reflection distorting and turning dark and watery before going back to normal.

She’ll pray to Oya that it worked.

“You smell like Senator Amidala.”

Anakin glared at her from where he was standing at the doorway. “It’s nice to see you too Naliah.”

Naliah pranced forward, grinning ear to ear. She lifted her head to smell the Jedi more thoroughly. “Hmmm…jealousy, anger, worry, and relief.” She sniffed again and wrinkled her nose. “And also, the cockpit of a very dirty airship. Someone vomited in the seat you sat in.”

Anakin’s eyes widened and he bolted towards the shower, slamming the door so hard the hinges rattled.

Ahsoka chose this time to enter the apartment. “What’s wrong with him?”

Naliah laughed, going up to scent the Togruta. “He sat in vomit. You're fine though.”

The Nereid rubbed herself into Ahsoka, laughing as she faked pushing her away. As a social predacious species, Togrutas were instinctually familiar with the concept of scenting but since Ahsoka had been raised at the Temple, she had no idea what the practice was until Naliah had showed up. The poor girl thought it was a weird tick she developed.

When she was done, Ahsoka moved over to corner of the apartment to do some more studying and Naliah raided the fridge for more food. She had just finished eating when Anakin emerged from the fresher. The Nereid followed him into their room, the Jedi already sprawled across the bed, eyes closed.

She pounced on top of him, rubbing her wrists and nose into Anakin’s skin. He sighed, fond exasperation rolling off of him in waves. Naliah spent a particularly long time on his metal hand, practically rolling on it. The damn thing would _not_ take a scent.

Anakin picked up on it, obviously. “Liah, what are you doing?”

Naliah paused. “Your hand doesn’t smell right.”

_embarrassment-insecurity-annoyance-anger_

She froze, backtracking in her choice of words. “Stop it. It’s not like that. You know that.”

Anakin rolled his eyes, stopping to glare at his hand. Naliah knew how much the Jedi despised the prosthetic even though they had made a lot of progress with it. When she first got here, he would barely let her touch the thing.

She cocked her head, finally sorting the human words into order. “It’s not like skin. That means a scent can’t take to it as easily. It smells like you because it’s attached to you but other than that it just smells like metal and electricity.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And you want it to smell like you?”

“Yeah.” She deadpanned. “You need to smell like me. Like pack.”

Anakin sat up at that, gaze questioning. “What, why?”

Naliah paused in her scenting to look at him fully. “Because the Atlanteans need to know that you are mine and under my protection. And when my sisters find me, it will make them less likely to kill you on sight.”

_fear-fear-fear_

“They’ll think that you took me against my will since I’ve been here so long. It’s a logical assumption to make.”

Anakin sighed and drug a hand down his face. “Right. Or course it is.” He paused and peaked out from in between his hands. “Hey how strong are your senses compared to a human’s? Your physical ones at least?”

“A hundred times stronger out of water, double or triple that when I’m in water. Hearing is the strongest, then scent. When you live in darkness, those are the two senses you rely on most. I can map most of my territory through those two senses alone.”

Anakin’s voice softened some, his curiosity peaking through. “What we smell like? Like, me, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan?”

The Nereid grinned, laughing some. “You really wanna know?”

“You could just say it was a stupid question- “

“No, it wasn’t, gods you’re dramatic.” Naliah interrupted, laughing loudly at a pouting Anakin.

When she had settled, she started rattling off the things that first came to mind. “Ahsoka’s resting heartrate is the fastest, then you, then Obi-Wan. Ahsoka smells wild. Like forests and tall grass during the warm season, with a flowery undercurrent. Obi-Wan smells smoky? No, that’s not the right word. Rustic? There’s this land-walker spice on Terra called cinnamon, he smells like that and cotton…and heartbreak. Like he hasn’t gotten closure.”

She paused, grabbing Anakin’s wrist and scenting it. “You smell like desert thunderstorms. Like starshine and…power? You smell like you’re constantly using your abilities even when you aren’t. I think it just rolls off you. Like if Chango had a mortal form.”

Anakin grinned brightly, eyes flashing as if he was remembering something. “You said I’m yours.”

The Nereid huffed, placing her hands on the Jedi’s chest. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”

Anakin grabbed at her arms, pulling her down on top of him. “Yeah.” He said softly.

Naliah nosed at his neck. “I consider all of you pack now. You get special attention because you’re more like me.”

She felt Anakin smile as he turned into her. “We’re the most breath-takingly gorgeous out of us four, I know Liah.”

“No, manta-brains.” She nipped playfully at Anakin’s exposed collarbone. “We’re the least human.” She pulled back, locking eyes with the Jedi. “Show me what you really look like.”

He hesitated for a bit, before taking a steading breath and his appearance started to change. A mouth split too wide, claws longer than her own, eyes like supernovas with a gleam that promised death and destruction. But none of it was threatening towards her in anyway. It was still Anakin under all those layers.

Naliah beamed, pride overcoming her senses. They’ve come far with his control.

She ran a hand down his side, Anakin shivering as she did. “Very good, Ani.”

Naliah moved to press herself further against him, trying to get as close as she could, but she stopped, cocking her head towards the window.

_It can’t be._

“Liah what is it?”

The Nereid felt her heart start to pound, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She sprang off of Anakin, facing the open window. She vaguely registered Ahsoka and Obi-Wan come into the room, clearly confused about what was going on. She strained her hearing, trying to see if her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her.

_thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump_

She _knew_ that heartbeat. Naliah let out a sudden and long screech, waiting, _praying_ , that she would get the right answer back. Twelve nearly identical cries responded to her.

She doesn’t remember leaving the room or sprinting down the hallway. If she’s being completely honest the whole thing is a blank. All she remembers is bursting out to the Temple entrance and finding twelve Neridian Aimeras barreling towards her.

Her sisters had finally found her. She was whole again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i haven't updated this in so long, this is pretty much a comfort fic at this point


End file.
